Inoue Shiori - revised
by Hermionechan90
Summary: OC Self Insert The story of Inoue Shiori, the civilian reincarnation that made her life in the Naruto World without directly interfering with the timeline and the ripples that she caused. Because I read so much SI's and needed to write one too. This is the REVISED VERSION. (no change in plot, just added dialog, scenes and fixed grammar)
1. Chapter 1 Introduction

When the topic rebirth comes up, most people think about Hinduism and Karma. Fewer people, most of them fanfiction addicts, think about the ability to redo their own lives or being reborn with their own set of memories in a different reality.

But only one person, as far as Shiori was aware, had gone through the process and could tell you precisely how it felt to have two distinct personalities in one fragile body clash, fight, and desperately try to survive in some way or form… because this was what had happened to Shiori.

Smiling sardonically down at the faded fabrics she was washing in the river; she shook her head in wry amusement. What would the hundreds of thousands of fanfiction-writers and readers think of if they could see her now? All this time they had been writing about facts and not fiction. Shiori chuckled humorlessly at the irony. How often had her old self dreamed of being in the same scenario? Even years after graduating, marrying, and becoming a so called "responsible adult," she had still loved to give into her childish urges and lose herself in the dreams of fantasy worlds and alternate universes.

And now here she was, a new person with too much knowledge trapped in a young fragile body in a violent world without any physical or monetary way to protect herself from the cold, harsh reality.

Shiori sighed while she pressed the freezing river water out of the yukata in her hands and then carefully folded the still damp fabric and stored it into the woven basket she had brought for the clean laundry. Her gaze wandered over to the still daunting mountain of dirty clothes and then to the slowly climbing sun. She knew very well that she would have to hurry; there were dozens of other things she had to finish before she could return to her home for lunch. So with a last deep sigh, Shiori fished out the next piece of clothing and dunked it into the freezing water.

Here she was now, a soul reborn in the Naruto universe as the daughter of poor farmers without a chance to ever improve her life. Let alone become a ninja.

Not that she wanted that!

God no! Neither in her last life nor this one did she feel the urge to lead an exciting life full of adrenalin and adventure. Truth is, Shiori was a bit of a coward (although she liked to think that it was just her common sense and survival instinct that urged her to live a completely normal and unspectacular life).

Of course, Eliza, the woman she had been beforehand, had read stories of OCs and SIs that had become ninja because they were scared to die as civilians, or gave themselves away through their own stupidity, but that was definitely not Shiori's idea of living.

So civilian it was.

Shiori sighed again while her thoughts wandered to the main problem she had with this life. As Eliza, she had lived an unbelievably wealthy life in comparison to this new one. And Shiori already knew that she would never be satisfied with the life she had been born into: working herself into exhaustion to barely survive from day to day was _not_ what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Even at the age of ten, a young farm girl like herself was expected to help out as much as any adult member of the family, and she knew that her responsibilities would only increase, as she grew older.

A bit wistful, Shiori let her mind wander back some years. She could remember that before she had turned seven, she had lived the life of a cheerful, content, but most importantly oblivious, lower class civilian.

The village she was born into was tiny. There were barely a hundred people living in Kawa. They had no school, or doctor, or even a general store. The little village relied on the bigger villages around it to supply them with other goods than edibles. Kawa, like many other villages in Fire Country, consisted entirely out of small farmhouses. Though, in Shiori's opinion the buildings were more huts than houses (and most of the time they had been built out of any available resource the inhabitants had been able to find at that time). Kawa was about seventy kilometers away from the capital, the seat of the Daimyo, and close to hundred twenty kilometers away from the Hidden Village in the Leaves, better known as Konoha.

Kawa was where Shiori learned to speak, walk, help in the fields, and take care of the house. The chores weren't her favorite thing, but the small girl didn't know anything else, and never even entertained the thought of leaving the place of her birth. She would have probably continued to be oblivious to her poor situation if the river incident hadn't happened.

That day Shiori had followed the older kids in her village to their favorite playground, a group of tall rocks at the edge of the riverbed. In an attempt to impress them, she had climbed a precarious cliff beside the river and promptly fell into it. Shiori could remember the surprise she had felt at the feeling of falling. She hadn't even been scared before she had hit the water and blacked out.

Shiori had nearly drowned.

Years after she had recovered, her grandmother told her what had happened. Her body had been caught in the current and she hit her head rather hard on one of the rocks in the riverbed. If an attentive villager hadn't heard the screams of the other children, Shiori probably wouldn't have survived that day. What followed was a week of delirium and fever dreams… at least, that was what her family told her later. They had been unable to pay for a doctor and had to just wait for her to wake up or die, as morbid as it sounded.

Shiori knew better. In the time she had lain unconscious, two minds had been fighting for dominance in her head. Seven-year-old Shiori of Kawa with the power of desperation versus the thirty-six-year-old Eliza from New York equipped with nothing more than confusion.

Shiori had won.

Her will to live had triumphed over the more experienced but completely unprepared Eliza, and so Shiori, with all her habits of a seven-year-old, naïve civilian, made up nearly ninety percent of the personality that inhabited the young body. Eliza became nothing more than an inner voice, and she and her memories could be ignored if Shiori tried hard enough.

Now, any good psychiatrist will say that such behavior won't help in the slightest and that memories always find other ways to surface, but Shiori was a child and didn't understand what was going on. So instead of actively occupying herself with her past life, the little girl dreamed.

She dreamed of being Eliza. She dreamt of growing up in one of the busiest cities in the world. She dreamt of speaking and writing a completely different language. She dreamt of another girl making friends and studying for school. How visits to her grandaunt and other extended family in the country fostered a love for plants and all things growing. Shiori witnessed as Eliza moved on to college to study chemistry and biology. How she fell in love with a classmate and they married shortly after they had graduated. Then her dreams showed her, Eliza's life as a working adult in a large pharmaceutical company. Shiori witnessed how the long hours and overtime made Eliza and her husband drift apart until they were only strangers living in the same apartment. The divorce that followed was a quick and clinical affair that left a hollow feeling in Eliza but no real anger or sadness about losing her partner. Another four years passed without the grown woman truly living. Eliza worked too much and barely kept in contact with her friends and family and then… well, then she died. The last thing that she had ever seen was those bright headlights of the car that ran a red light in the early evening hours.

Shiori still shuddered softly while she remembered that particular dream and how her grandmother had to wake her up because she was crying hysterically in her sleep. Most of the images didn't make sense to Shiori at first. The school curriculum and technology were so different and far more advanced than she had ever heard of. There was violence too, but not in the same quality as in the Elemental Countries. Shiori was confused and slightly frightened during the first few months; she was, after all, only a little girl when her dreams began. And most importantly she was _not_ Eliza. Yes, she had some of her memories inside of her, but she was _not_ Eliza.

With time, Eliza's voice became stronger again and explained some of the things Shiori didn't understand. Finally, her curiosity outweighed her fear, and the part that was still left over from Eliza's personality started to help Shiori to commit the more interesting information to her own memory.

They used the time during the repetitive tasks of planting rice and caring for it to recite the information until it was second nature for Shiori. Like this she learned about plants, herbs, and basic chemistry. Anything, really, that could be useful in Shiori's life.

Of course, the young girl also had seen and heard all the other lessons and experiences Eliza had gone through, but because it wasn't reinforced like the plant knowledge, it soon started to fade into the background.

The older Shiori grew and the more understanding she gained of the world she now lived in, the unhappier she became about her situation. Eliza's knowledge had given Shiori a glimpse of a life that she wanted for herself, but had no idea how to accomplish.

And then Shiori gradually found the connections between Eliza's memories and this new one. She slowly started to recognize certain places and titles as the ones out of the Naruto manga in Eliza's childhood but continued to hope that it all was just a big coincidence. Until the day a derisive comment from their neighbor about ninja business at the border confirmed Shiori's worst fear.

Ninjas, wars, tailed beasts… how the hell was she going to survive _this_?


	2. Chapter 2 Shizuka's death, comb

'Misery really does love company…' ran through Shiori's mind while she stared numbly at her family's shrine and contemplated what she should do now.

Tears built up in her eyes and the only thing that she wanted to do was curl up under her futon and cry long and hard until all of her problems just went AWAY!

The only thing that prevented Shiori from doing just that was the social conditioning she had gone through since she had been born in this world. In the society she was now living in, it was not acceptable to just feel sorry for yourself. Her parents had made sure to punish every overemotional outburst strongly. Her behavior reflected on the rest of the family, after all. Her grandmother was even stricter in that aspect. A lady didn't show her true feelings, no matter how bad the situation was.

But damn it! She had just turned twelve years old, for God's sake.

With a sigh, Shiori instead wiped away the tears from her cheeks and eyes and thought back how all of this started.

The year had begun with an unforeseeable flood that had destroyed half of her family's crops. It was a pretty devastating loss because it not only meant that they were going to have a lean winter but also that they wouldn't be able to pay for the medicine her grandmother so desperately needed.

Shiori was acutely aware of how imperative proper medicine was for her grandmother. After all, they shared a room and it was her responsibility to look after her proud and now invalid grandmother. Shiori had been trying to alleviate the chronic coughs for months now with only minimal success. Her grandmother needed antibiotics and strong ones. It was heartbreaking for Shiori to watch the woman that had raised her become weaker and weaker with each day. The elderly woman had taught her everything from reading, writing, and counting, to manners and tea ceremonies.

Shizuka had once been the younger daughter of an impoverished noble family and had married Shiori's grandfather after said family had been killed on their way to their relatives. Her grandmother had been without any means but her stunning blue eyes and long silky black hair in the countryside and had used those to secure a marriage to a young man. Only a year ago Shizuka admitted to Shiori that this had been harder to accomplish than she had expected. In the countryside, women of her education and build were considered useless; they had no skills that would keep the family alive and fed. She had been lucky that Shiori's grandfather had fallen head over heels for her looks and had had no parents left that could have objected to his choice of bride. These looks and rather frail stature for a farmer-daughter was what Shizuka passed down to Shiori, at least according to their neighbors. Shiori, thanks to the hard life and deficient nutrition looked a lot more mature than children in her age bracket normally did, also thinner but that went without saying. Her grandmother was very proud of Shiori's beauty and regularly ran her fingers through her hair to free it of all its knots and tangles. Shiori, with her inky black hair and blue eyes probably reminded her grandmother of herself when she was young and what she had lost, because she sometimes caught her grandmother staring longingly at her before her lips pressed together and the expression turned into grief.

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When Shizuka's time finally came Shiori had seen it coming for days. Her grandmother's cough had become worse with each day and her already frail body clearly couldn't take the additional strain anymore. Shiori had lamented fate bitterly while she cared for the dying woman, Shizuka was barely fifty-four, young even for the farmers who had a shorter life-expectancy than most social classes. Though if you believed the gossip in their small village it was longer than anyone had given her when she had first married.

Shizuka died only in the company of her twelve-year-old granddaughter, which was bittersweet because Shizuka couldn't say goodbye to her son but it also made a last conversation between them possible that gave Shiori courage in the following years.

"… Shiori…" she wheezed out between coughing fits, the thick yellow and green slime clogging up her throat.

"Obaa-san, don't try to speak. Concentrate on breathing." Shiori murmured while she gently tugged the bedding up again.

Her grandmother's surprising strong grip clamped around her wrist, "Listen to me girl!"

The sharp sentence was followed by an even stronger coughing fit, but this time Shiori only helped her grandmother to straighten up a bit and said nothing. What could she have said anyway?

"Shiori-chan, promise me something." Her grandmother's voice was rough and weak and so completely different from the days she had instructed her in tea ceremonies.

"Anything." Shiori swore.

"Promise me that you won't let yourself be forced into a marriage here… not even when your idiot of a father orders you… p-promise me that you _make_ something of yourself… w-we both know how smart you are. You don't belong here."

Her grandmother's words were interrupted by bigger and smaller coughing fits, but her words were clearly discernible in the otherwise empty house. Her parents were on the field and on Shizuka's order Shiori hadn't left to call for them.

Shiori's lips trembled but she bravely swallowed down her tears. Now was not the moment to break down, no matter how much she wanted to, so she nodded her head and said, "I-I promise, Obaa-san."

"Good. Now lift the tatami mat in that corner over there," her grandmother instructed, while Shizuka's breathing was getting even heavier and shallower.

Doing as she was told, Shiori gently tugged up the straw mats that had never been switched as far as Shiori was aware. Underneath it was a small brown package. Shiori brought the package over and then carefully opened it under the sharp eyes of her grandmother. Once it was open, she stared.

"That…"

"This is the only thing I could save when my husband sold all my belongings after our marriage… it is the last token of my birth family that I have left over… and now it is yours."

Shiori continued to stare at the small jade comb, it was probably worth about half of the house. In Kawa this was a small fortune.

"A-are you sure?"

"There is no one else I would rather give this to." Her grandmother smiled she looked satisfied for the first time in a long while.

"I will treasure it, I promise." Shiori swore while she pressed the delicate carved comb against her chest.

"I know you will… and you will give it to your eldest daughter one day. I wish to see it pass through the generations following you." Her grandmother said with another small smile, "Now child, leave me to rest for a bit." Shizuka said, tired of the conversation and gently closed her eyes.

Shiori sat beside her grandmother and watched as coughs now and then shook her grandmother's body while her pale body fought for each breath… until she wasn't breathing anymore. It took Shiori a moment to register what had happened. They had had a conversation only minutes before and now… now she was gone. At least Shizuka had passed away painlessly during her sleep. The house was empty and quiet with only Shiori present while she stared down at her grandmother's body. A tear fell down her cheeks, then another and then Shiori let go and sobbed helplessly while her throat closed-up and the pain in her chest and lungs overwhelmed her. Here in the empty house she had been born in, away from any observers Shiori allowed herself to mourn her grandmother's death openly.

Shizuka had understood her better than Shiori's more simple-minded parents ever could. Her Obaa-san had been the one that had noticed her quick mind and had taught her a lot more than the basics of reading and writing. Shiori learned the beauty of calligraphy as well as the few poems that Shizuka could still remember from her own youth. Whenever she could, Shiori practiced her brushstrokes diligently with water on the smoothed down rocks beside the river. For that, she smuggled out one of her father's two brushes. Thankfully she had never been caught while doing this or her father would have most definitely beaten her something fierce. Shiori had learned quickly to never invoke the ire of her father through disobeying an order; after all, corporal punishment was common practice in the Elemental Countries.

In later years, her grandmother had shown her the difference between the greetings of the different classes. She had even given Shiori lessons in small talk at court and other seemingly inconsequent things that a poor farmer's daughter would never have the need of. These lessons were kept a well-guarded secret, because both were aware that should Shiori's parents ever learn of them they would put an end to them. Which would have hurt Shiori immensely, she loved those lessons, loved spending time with the only person that had recognized her intelligence and supported and encouraged it in any way she could.

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When her parents returned in the evening, Shiori had dried her tears and covered her grandmother's face with a white cloth. She was in the middle of the ritual washing and the house smelled of the homemade incense. She did all this with utmost care and consideration; Shiori would not shame herself or her grandmother through blundering the death rituals in her grief.

On the next day, Shizuka was buried on the far side of the house in a small ceremony that they could not afford, but was still done to keep her grandmother's spirit appeased.

The small jade comb her grandmother had passed down to her was returned to its hiding place until the day Shiori would finally be able to wear it openly.


	3. Chapter 3 Shiori's parents death

But with that, the horrible year didn't end.

To compensate for the income, they would lose this year, both of Shiori's parents found additional work on Fuji-san's fields one village over. This left the twelve-year-old solely responsible for what was left of the field at home while her parents and many others worked for one of the richest men in the area.

It was there that her parents found their end.

They had been working in the fields farthest from the Fuji-san's farmhouse. They and two-dozen other farm hands were told to bring in the last of the wheat crops before the summer down pour began and destroyed them. The weather had been unnaturally hot and humid for days now without the slightest breeze and this put more than one of the older villagers on edge. That particular weather was normally followed by a destructive hailstorm, so everybody was working into exhaustion to bring in the last of harvest before the storm began.

The hailstorm, when it finally began, was one of the worst in the history of their region. Shiori was inside the house when it started and she had watched fearfully as the nearly fist sized hailstones destroyed the, thankfully already harvested, field and damaged the roof on their house.

Her parents weren't so lucky; the weather surprised them shortly before sundown and struck them dead. After the storm had passed, their bodies were found only a few meters away from the farmhouse. They had not been the only victims; all over the country side people lost their lives because they didn't find shelter fast enough or their huts collapsed on them, but it was hard to care for anyone else when Shiori's whole family had been killed within a year.

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Shiori was painfully numb for some time while she tried to make sense of what had happened. Not out of grief, as callous as it sounded, her grandmother had been her real parent. No, the twelve-year-old was devastated because she was now in the situation her grandmother had been. Shiori was without family or wealth in the countryside and with only her beauty and a derelict farmhouse to her name.

Which led to her current problem: Fuji-san had offered to marry her.

The thought alone made Shiori break out into cold sweat and feel sick. So maybe she could remember a former life, but she didn't feel physically or mentally ready to marry in this one! And a stranger at that!

She was twelve years old for God's sake, so why the hell were the women in Kawa encouraging her to accept his proposal? Even in their small village, the normal age for marriage was around fifteen for girls. And most importantly, Fuji-san was easily thirty years her senior!

Deflating inside, Shiori bit her lip while she tried to work through her options. Outright rejection would be impossible in this society; it would make her into an outcast, which was worse than any kind of arranged marriage. The people that suffered that particular fate didn't last very long because nobody helped them out and often they didn't even sell their products to them. For Shiori it would mean certain death.

At least Fuji-san had the decency to give her a period of mourning before she had to answer him. Shiori shuddered once more while she remembered the greedy looks the man had sent her when they had been introduced to each other during the funeral service he had paid for. Shiori suspected that was done to appease the souls of the people that had died while working for him and their grieving relatives. He was a pig of a man nearly as wide as tall and Fuji-san had apparently never heard of personal hygiene. The odor of his sweat and the sake that he drank had nearly made her throw up.

Taking a deep breath, Shiori tried to calm herself. She had always wanted to have an easier life away from farming and then there was the promise to her grandmother. For that, the black-haired girl would have to get out of Kawa and the surrounding villages anyway. Okay, so maybe this was a bit sooner than she had anticipated but this shouldn't stop her, afterall she had PROMISED that she would make something out of her life!

With this goal on her mind she turned to the next issue. Money.

Shiori needed money to start anew somewhere else. She would need it to rent a place and who knew how long it would take until she had found work?

The only way to get her hands on that kind of money was to sell her parents' house. There was a moment of deliberation while she stared at the familiar walls around her. She had been born here. Her father had been born here. Could she really sell it? Shiori swallowed before she stood up decisively and made herself presentable to visit her neighbors.

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Todo-san, one of her neighbors, was in need of a house.

His eldest son had recently married and it was only a matter of time until the family needed additional space. Todo-san had been a friend of her father's and he was probably of the opinion that she was hesitating to accept Fuji-san's most generous proposal because she didn't have a proper dowry. Shiori had always made sure to act as the traditional and proper little girl that everyone expected her to be even if everything in her screamed to rebel against this ultra conservative behavior, but her grandmother's teachings were ironclad in that: a lady did not make a scene.

This preconception was useful and would prevent the town people from suspecting anything amiss until she was far away from Kawa. And the deception was very much needed because the traditional farmers would have never let her leave Kawa on her own. She even feared that in a misguided attempt to honor her parents they would have forced her into the marriage with Fuji-san and Shiori didn't trust herself to be able to withstand the social pressure for long. So to remove that possibility, Shiori had to be smart.

At her neighbor's home she demurely accepted his offer to buy her family's home but never outright gave any indication that she would marry Fuji-san. She still balked at the concept of outright lying to somebody she had known all her life. Shiori also found that the time of the transaction couldn't have been more perfect. With the harvest season coming to an end Todo-san had sold most of his crops and had enough money on hand to pay her out completely instead of being indebted to her. That meant that Shiori wouldn't have to forgo a part of the money to escape this marriage farce. To validate the transaction, two of their other neighbors were called to witness it and signed the hastily drawn up document as witnesses. Now nobody could claim that this deal hadn't happened. Shiori also promised to vacate the house by the end of the month before she politely said goodbye to Todo-san and his family and left for her own home.

Once she was far enough away, the black-haired girl released some of the control over her body and burst into uncontrollable hiccups and laughs while her limps were shaking. She had never been in such a stressful situation before! But she had done it. She had sold the house she had grown up in to secure her own future.

Shiori swallowed. There was a thick lump in her throat, but she stubbornly refused to let any tears fall. With an iron grip, she clutched the money package to her chest and hurried inside. Her grandmother would be so proud and her parents… well, Shiori liked to think that they would have understood eventually.

The rest of the day, Shiori sorted through her family's belongings to decide what she could carry with her and what would just weigh her down on her journey. She had to hurry now; Shiori was certain that the news of her selling her parents' home would reach Fuji-san either late at night today or early in the morning and the fat geezer would be on her doorstep at the latest tomorrow afternoon, by then she planned to be long gone.

In the end, Shiori packed her two spare kimonos, along with her mother's shoes and her grandmother's jade comb into her father's old, but still functional, duffel bag. Afterwards, Shiori filled the bag with the dried vegetables and fruits that should keep for at least a month, as well as a small bag of rice and the smallest pot her family owned. The paper money was then carefully sewn into the inside of her obi while the coins were distributed between the duffle bag and her hidden kimono pockets. As an afterthought, she also added her father's brushes and the thickest knitted blanket in the house to her traveling luggage. The nights in Fire Country around this time of the year weren't cold, per se, but better safe than sorry.

Once finished, Shiori gathered up the rest of the ingredients in the kitchen and cooked the biggest meal she had ever prepared in this new life and with the leftover rice, she made onigiri.

In the evening, Shiori lit some incense for her grandmother and parents before she leisurely ate the food she had made. Shiori felt content, if a bit high-strung, while she ate her fill and more for the first time in years, though she had to consciously hold back from hurrying. Once finished, Shiori packed the leftovers into three of her family's bento boxes and stored them inside a burlap bag that was easily fixed on her duffel bag. Tired and emotionally exhausted from the last few days, the black-haired girl sank gratefully onto her futon and fell asleep with little difficulty.

The next morning, Shiori was more startled out of bed instead of a graduate awakening. She had a nightmare. In her dream, she had been forced to marry Fuji-san and spent the rest of her miserable life pregnant and confided in his home. The young girl needed a few moments to stop shaking and calm her breath; a glance outside at the slowly vanishing dark got her moving. Shiori's sense of time told her that she would have to hurry if she wanted to slip away without being seen by anyone. Hastily, she dressed before she slipped into her sandals, closed the house down, and shouldered her meager belongings. A last look behind her nearly made her turn around but with a shaky breath she steeled herself and purposely walked down the road.

She could do this!

The girl made her way silently through the empty mud streets of their village and was just about to sigh in relief when the road that led away from Kawa came in sight when a deep voice from behind her spooked her.

"Leaving, hmm?"

Shiori turned fearfully to the voice that came from the shadows of the house on her left but before she could say anything in her defense, the voice continued.

"Tch, I don't blame you. Everyone in this village is crazy if they think it is right and honorable to marry a little orphaned girl to an old lecher like Fuji-san, only because he's rich."

Shiori started to calm down when she had finally recognized the voice. The other villagers considered Tanaka-san somewhat eccentric; Shiori on the other hand just thought that he was a lot more progressive then the rest of Kawa. He was already in his late fifties and one of the wealthier farmers in the village.

"Where are you going?" the gruff man asked his eyes trailing from her shoes to the duffel bag on her back.

"K-Konoha," Shiori squeaked out.

She couldn't tell him that she had just decided to run without any plan or destination and Konoha was the first thing that came to her mind when he asked.

"Hhmpf, do you even know where that is?" the old man asked incredulous.

Hesitantly Shiori shook her head, as an answer she just received a sigh and a shake of the old man's head.

"Continue to follow this road. As soon as you are over the hill you will see a mountain range in the distance, take the roads in that direction and you will find some bigger villages. Ask there for directions and for God's sake girl _don't_ go with strangers or take food from them." The last part was said in a stern voice.

Shiori just nodded shyly before she bowed and said a heartfelt, "Arigatou gozaimasu, Tanaka-san. I will never forget."

"Hhmpf, now go. You don't have a lot of time before the others wake up," was his only reply.

Nodding Shiori determinedly walked past him and into the woods that led up a small hill.

Her future was waiting.


	4. Chapter 4 Traveling to Konoha

Years later, Shiori still wondered what kind of luck gods had smiled down on her during her journey through Fire Country. Because, with the exception of a few merchant caravans and a single ninja team that was sprinting in the other direction, Shiori didn't encounter anyone between the various villages.

On the first day, she barely stopped walking, too afraid that someone would catch up to her, so Shiori even walked while eating. In the evening, her feet and back hurt and Shiori knew that she could count herself lucky that she didn't have any blisters. The rest of her muscles were stiff and by then she was so tired that for a moment she considered just settling down right beside the road. In the end her common sense won and she stumbled into the woods to her left, in search of a place that would shelter her for the night. When she found a relatively thick oak tree with a wide crown she settled right at its trunk and closed her eyes. It didn't take long for said eyes to snap open again though, the noises around her and the slowly sinking sun made the clearing she had found look more menancing than it truly was and Shiori felt her heartbeat pick up. There was no way she would be able to sleep on the ground, exposed like this. So with the last rays of sunlight Shiori climbed up the rather low hanging branches until she found two branches that were thick enough to carry her weight without a problem and close enough together so that she could wedge herself between them. She slept rather fitfully that night, but it was a lot better than if she had stayed on the ground.

Her enthusiasm the day before came to bite her in the ass after she woke up the next morning. Shiori's muscles were even stiffer than the night before and she felt sore from walking all day, the unusual position she had slept in hadn't helped either. For breakfast Shiori finished up the first of her bento boxes and then after the first painful kilometer, she promised her poor aching body that she would pace herself more from now on. Shiori stopped around midday to eat some of her onigiri and a bit of the fried sweet potatoes (which was considered a poor people's food in this world) while she sat on the edge of the small well she had found along the street. Shiori let her eyes slowly wander over her surroundings while she took another bite of her lunch. The fields were different from the rice and wheat fields she had grown up around. Shiori didn't recognize the crops but figured that it would be another type of corn. It was strange to her that it hadn't been harvested yet, but she was from further north. She had once heard her father talk about the fact that the regions in the south even had two harvesting seasons and never really had to deal with snowfall. Kawa did get snow every two years like clockwork, it was just enough to cover the ground and freeze the more delicate plants. Though it didn't really matter if they had a snowy year or just rain, it was generally a miserable time as many got sick and few ever recovered from it.

With a sigh, Shiori packed away the leftovers of her lunch and continued her journey. Normally, it would be too hot to walk for long distances during this time of the day, but at the edge of the last grain field began a small forest, where it would be cooler and shaded from the sun and Shiori figured that this was better than resting in the direct sun and risking sunstroke. Shortly before the sun went down on the second day of her journey, Shiori recognized the lights shining in front of her as the lights of a village. Hesitant to approach the unknown place, while also wanting to save her money, Shiori slept once again in a tree.

On the morning of the third day, Shiori walked through the village that was nearly twice as large as Kawa. It was there that she received more detailed directions to Konoha. Apparently runaways that tried to make their way to Konoha weren't that uncommon in this part of Fire Country. Determined to cross as much distance as possible, the black haired girl left the village before the better part of it could wake up. The following days were spent much like the second day. The only highlights during her journey were the caravans she passed with their many carts, people that were on their way out of Fire Country, and the ninja team that Shiori saw while she was taking a short break on an upturned tree. She had never seen humans move that fast. They were three blurs that jumped off some trees and then raced along the well-trodden path wherever they needed to go.

Shiori religiously kept away from the villages and towns that had become bigger and louder the further she advanced on Konoha. The small farm girl was intimidated by the size of these settlements and she also wanted to avoid any kind of trouble. So she made some detours to skirt around the villages, if at all possible. In the evening of the eighth day Shiori was out of food and resigned herself to the fact that she would have to buy additional provisions in the next village.

This thought turned out to be incorrect because on the next morning she was woken by a light shake of her shoulder and a ninja in her face.

Shiori took one look at her unexpected guest, squealed, and promptly fell out of the tree. Luckily the ninja dropped down at the same time and caught her before she landed painfully on the ground. Shiori shook for a second and tears started to build up in her eyes while her heart beat uncomfortably fast in her chest. Her nerves had already been frayed because of her worries of not finding Konoha, lack of sleep, and now this unexpected wake-up call was simply the cherry on top. Only the 'oh shit'-expression on the brown haired man's face prevented Shiori from completely breaking down into tears like a scared toddler.

She swallowed a few times before she shakily greeted the man holding her, "Ohayou gozaimasu."

XXXXXXXXX

Bekkou gave a relieved smile when he didn't have to deal with tears and helped the young girl to her feet.

"So… want to tell me why you are sleeping in a tree while you're so close to Konoha?"

The girl looked confused for a moment before her face slowly turned hopeful. "Konoha is near? Oh thank God, I was beginning to think I had taken the wrong path."

"Yes, the gate is just about twenty minutes away. Come on, I'll show you," the ninja confirmed while he nodded in the direction of the path.

"Thank you, shinobi-san. My name is Shiori," she introduced herself politely.

The girl was clearly well mannered unlike most of the street urchins that found their way to Konoha's doorstep. Her accent was surprisingly light but a slight inflection at the end of her words betrayed her farm heritage… and she was from somewhere in the north. The girls that hailed from the south weren't generally as formal as little Shiori was.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Bekkou. Why were you sleeping out here?" He couldn't help but ask.

Shiori blushed, "I have never been to Konoha and I wasn't sure how far away it was, so I climbed a tree every time it became too dark to continue."

Bekkou just nodded at that, "Sensible. So, what do you want to do in Konoha?"

"Work. Build a life." The girl said determinedly, while her gaze swept over the tall trees around them. The girl had clearly never seen Hashirama's trees before.

Bekkou's lips quirked while he glanced down at Shiori-chan, "You ran away didn't you? How old are you? Fourteen? Fifteen?"

"Twelve and yes I did," the girl corrected, while she carefully checked her duffel bag for any damage before slinging it over her shoulder.

Bekkou did a double take. "Tw-twelve? Shit… I mean, damn, that's young. Is there a particular reason why?"

The girl looked stubbornly to the side before mumbling, "I didn't want to marry Fuji-san."

Bekkou raised an eyebrow. At twelve. Of course she didn't. What the hell were her parents thinking?

"That's understandable. Twelve is kind of young to marry."

"He's forty-five and fat." came the rather petulant continuation of her last sentence.

Oh yes, Bekkou had suddenly no troubles at all with believing that she was only twelve. The cheeky little girl had more sass than he would have thought at first glance.

"And that's another good reason." Bekkou snorted. "Well, come on kid, I'll show you to the immigration office."

Shiori sighed in relief. "Thank you."

Bekkou inwardly shook his head. Yet another runaway that had found their way to Konoha. With a bit of chakra manipulation, the chunin distractedly checked her chakra signature for anomalies, which was standard procedure. Runaways were a lot more common than most people thought; Konoha was, after all, known as the nice ninja village that took care of its civilians. Unfortunately, most of the time the people who wanted to start over in Konoha never reached their destination. Even though the Hokage regularly sent out chunin squads to deal with the rising bandit problem, they couldn't find all of them. So Bekkou wondered how the hell such a vulnerable girl had missed every single one of the bandit groups or gotten away unscathed. He wasn't interested in young girls but even he could admit that Shiori was pretty thing and would grow up to be quite the beauty in a few years. No wonder someone had wanted to marry her at such a young age.

"So, do you know what you want to do after gaining citizenship?" Bekkou asked curiously.

The girl seemed mature for her age and she had made her way through Fire Country to reach Konoha, but most civilian twelve year olds didn't think further than maybe a week in advance.

Shiori shrugged her shoulders shyly before saying, reluctantly, "I'm not sure yet, but, first and foremost I know that I'll need to find a place to live and a job to pay my rent."

Bekkou nodded. "What are your strengths?", it never hurt to give newcomers some pointers and Shiori reminded Bekkou too much of his own nieces as that he could leave her without even the most basic advice.

The runaway looked at him for a long moment. Clearly she was debating if she should trust him or not. It wasn't helping his interrogation but at least the girl had some common sense. You didn't trust strangers unconditionally, even if they were ninja.

In the end, she bit her lip and answered him honestly, "I can read, write, and count. I'm okay at cooking and cleaning. Back at home I also worked in my family's fields and the vegetable garden…"

Bekkou nodded. "Being literate is good; you already have an advantage over most of the new arrivals from the country. Most of the villages don't have schools."

Shiori nodded. "It was the same in Kawa. We didn't have a school or even a doctor and the village had barely a hundred residents. I was lucky that my grandmother could read and write and that my father allowed me to learn with her after finishing my chores. She would always make me write and recite the poems of her youth."

The black haired girl smiled a little lost and her eyes grew distant, clearly caught in a memory.

"Poems?" now Bekkou was curious, farmers normally didn't know poems, even the literate ones.

Shiori nodded eagerly and recited as clearly as she could.

 _With every passing day_  
 _the autumn wind_  
 _is blowing colder,_  
 _the voices of the crickets_  
 _become ever fewer._

Bekkou faltered for a second before he arranged his face in a neutral expression once more. This was one of the poems that belonged to the education of one of the lower noble families, he was sure. Bekkou had become familiar with quite a few poems after the more or less regular guarding missions he had run for such nobles. Without showing his inner turmoil he encouraged Shiori to continue. The closer they came to Konoha the surer Bekkou was that the little girl beside him was a descendant from some noble family that had lived in the north of Fire Country, not that it would help her in some way in Konoha. Mentally shrugging his shoulders, he took a closer look at her appearance. Hell, even her bone structure was that of a noble; normal farmer daughters were a lot more compact physically and better build for the hard work. Shiori on the other hand had a fine and nearly delicate bone structure.

Her physical appearance along with her story would have normally made him suspicious but when he noticed the calluses on her hands he was convinced for good of her truthfulness. The tan line in her face and on her hands as well as her slightly emaciated form for her age talked of a life full of hardship and hunger, not one of ninja training or that of a noble. Content with his verdict, Bekkou gave a subtle sign to the jounin that was concealed above the gates before he led Shiori to Kotetsu and Izumo to receive temporary access to the village.


	5. Chapter 5 Interview, flat search

The two chunin at the entrance took one look at the pretty girl and blushed. Kotetsu's grin became bigger and he opened his mouth to say something suave and cool, or at least what he thought was suave and cool. Bekkou felt like sighing. Those green boys... sometimes he really wondered how they, especially Kotetsu, had passed their Chunin exams. In a way Bekkou got it, the boy was barely seventeen and Shiori was a pretty girl, but the moment she took a few steps behind Bekkou the boy should have registered her discomfort and dropped the interested gaze and behaved according to his rank.

To move the conversation along, Bekkou cleared his throat and said dryly, "Shiori-chan here needs a temporary visa. She wants to become a citizen."

Izumo just nodded in a friendly manner, his initial blush had receded and he was all business now to Bekkou's relief, at least one of the two boys was acting professional. With an efficient move Izumo grabbed the needed forms from under his desk. Kotetsu, on the other hand, was still eyeing Shiori rather blatantly.

"So your name is Shiori-chan?" Kotetsu asked probing and inappropriately familiar.

Yeah no, Bekkou thought annoyed and interrupted the seventeen-year-old Chunin, "And she is twelve and ran away from an arranged marriage. So no, she is not interested." Kotetsu was working at the gate for God's sake, he should have already picked up on Shiori's body language and reacted accordingly.

Said Chunin eyes widened before he blushed once more, this time in embarrassment and quickly turned his eyes to the paperwork Izumo was filling out, clearly embarrassed at being called out like that.

"Thanks," Bekkou said once Izumo was finished and handed the sheets over which was quickly followed by a more formal, "Thank you," from Shiori, accompanied by a rather graceful bow.

With the necessary documents in hand Bekkou led her through the familiar maze of streets, alleys and gaps that was steadily growing busier the deeper they walked into the hidden village. Out of the corner of his eyes Bekkou noticed the awe and intimidation that alternated on Shiori's face. The girl had probably never seen a village bigger than a few hundred buildings while Konoha consisted easily of a couple of thousand.

It took them twenty minutes to walk from the gates to the immigration office that was located in the first third of Konoha. It was one of the few bureaucratic buildings that weren't a stone-throw away from the village center around the Hokage Tower and it blended-in rather well with its cheerful blue façade between the residential and commercial buildings around it.

Bekkou walked up to the reception desk and handed over the forms, as well as signed the form that named him as the first-contact.

He nodded once at the secretary before he turned to Shiori, "Well this is where I leave you. Answer the questions truthfully and I'm sure that you will soon have your citizenship."

Inwardly he wished the girl good luck.

XXXXXXXX

"Thank you for finding me and accompanying me Bekkou-san." Shiori answered and gave him a small bow.

The ninja simply nodded and then vanished through the front door, probably to return to his post. Now alone Shiori sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting room. She was the only one present, not that Shiori was surprised by that it was barely eight in the morning after all.

It took less than ten minutes until a strict-looking older woman appeared and led her into a small room with no windows. There she was questioned about her parentage, former home, reason for running away, as well as her abilities. The questioning took about three hours and Shiori had answered more than once the same question over and over again. The longer the interrogation lasted the worse Shiori felt, she had developed a headache twenty minutes in and could barely concentrate. By the time her interrogator was finally satisfied, her stomach was complaining, she hadn't eaten yet after all. So when Shiori was finally given the paperwork that granted her partial citizenship she couldn't even raise the energy to be pleased about it, she just wanted to curl up somewhere, eat something, and then sleep off her headache.

On her way out of the interrogation room Shiori was also informed that her actions would be watched by Chunins for the first year in Konoha and depending on her behavior she would be granted full citizenship or asked to leave by then. Nearly as an afterthought she was handed a pile of loose sheets which at closer inspection turned out to be those vital documents she would need to be able to live in Konoha. So before she took another step in direction of the exit, Shiori sat down in one of the hallway chairs and carefully leafed through her stack of documents. Besides the residence permit that marked her as a partial Konoha citizen, it also contained a permit that enabled her to search for employment. Underneath all her documents she further found an information sheet concerning taxes. Relieved Shiori sighed when she realized that said taxes had to be paid each quarter but only AFTER the first year of residency was over. They were calculated from her income level each year so she would need to have sufficient proof about her employment, from Eliza's memories Shiori had a pretty good idea what would await her and she was definitely not looking forward to tax season. Another sheet listed the mandatory classes Shiori would have to visit and several dates for them, apparently Konoha ran those introduction courses parallel several times a year and she was expected to complete such a course within the first six months. Those courses included introduction courses about the laws for civilians and shinobi as well as the daily dealings with ninjas. Thanks to her literacy Shiori also didn't have to sign up for remedial classes in that field, which would have cost an additional fee.

Shiori stretched luxuriously and then stored her paperwork neatly in her duffel bag. Once she was finished she realized somewhat baffled that the tiredness and headache that had been growing progressively worse during the interrogation was fading. The hunger though, was still there.

It didn't take her long to find her way back into the waiting room that had by now become astonishingly full. Shiori was just about to slip out of the front door as quietly as possible when she caught sight of the black board that was placed in one corner of the room. Closer inspection revealed that it contained a scattering of different job offers and about a dozen addresses that could be rented. Shiori's hands shook while she used the pen the secretary had let her borrow to shakily write down several addresses on the back of a piece of advertisement. Once finished she took another deep breath, thanked the receptionist for her assistance and left the building to sort out her new life.

XXXXXXXXX

Standing in the middle of a busy Konoha street was rather overwhelming for the young girl, people were bustling around and completing chores and what not. The constant buzz around her was unfamiliar loud and intimidating. Shiori let her eyes glide uncertainly first to her left and then to her right while she tried to decide what to do now. Should she search for work or a flat first?

Her dilemma was solved by the rumbling of her stomach. Shiori felt her lips twitch in humor and she gently patted her belly, apparently she would search for a meal before everything else. Tentatively, Shiori started to wander down the street while her eyes tried to take in everything around her. There were so many shops and restaurants and truth be told she would have loved nothing more than to enter them and buy something but for now Shiori had to watch how much money she spent and so instead she looked for a cheap meal to sate her hunger.

Relieved she felt her shoulders drop when she finally discovered a street stand in front of a tiny park that was wedged in between two big buildings. A glance at the price tag had her wince, with that amount of money that was asked for she could have easily bought two or even three meals in the bigger villages around Kawa. Oh well, she should have expected that Konoha would be more expensive than her birth village. Resigning herself to the higher prices, Shiori bought some yakitori. At least she hadn't needed to use any of her savings during her journey to Konoha; she would need every Ryo until she had secured some kind of income.

While she finished her food on a nearby bench Shiori prioritized her needs. First and foremost, she would have to find a flat. After all she needed a place to sleep today and she didn't think the shinobi would be so understanding if she slept in a tree on Konoha property. So after throwing away the trash, Shiori asked the elderly vendor about the location of the addresses she had written down. The man gave her some directions and then he also told her how much a cheap flat should approximately cost when he learned that she had just arrived in the village and was alone. Feeling relieved now that she had an idea what she could expect, Shiori made her way to the first address.

Some seven hours later Shiori was finished with her search and decided to rent the third of the five properties she had seen. It was tiny in comparison to the other flats she had inspected, but also a LOT cheaper than the rest. The one room flat had a small but functional kitchenette already incorporated. There wasn't a lot of space, Shiori calculated that if she found some second-hand furniture she would probably be able to fit a small table and some chairs under the window. Beside the bath the flat also had a small built in wall closet where she could store a futon, which she also needed to buy now that she thought about it, as well as her changes of clothing.

To be able to move in instantly Shiori had to pay the first two rents in advance, it was a lot more money than she was comfortable with handing over but there was no way around it. Once alone in her new home the black-haired girl calculated how long her savings would last with this additional strain and grimaced unhappily. The flat alone would deplete her savings in two years and that without calculating in the needed groceries, clothes, pots, pans and what else Shiori would need for daily life.

All those damning numbers led to only one conclusion. She needed to find work and fast!


	6. Chapter 6 Echizen-san

Worried and rather desperate to find a job as fast as possible Shiori ignored her tiredness and returned to the streets of Konoha after she had put away her belongings and drank some water to chase away her light headache. There were still some hours left until sundown, enough time to search for work. To increase her chances and make a good first impression Shiori was wearing her best kimono instead of the dirty one in which she had arrived.

She had only worn this particular garment on a few special occasions. It had been bought in a time in which the crops had been bountiful and her father had had a surplus of money and even than their family had budgeted rigorously, money simply wasn't wasted on unneeded things even when they had it. Her best kimono had started out as a bargain deal that her mother had found, at the time the garment had a hole on the front and was more than a few sizes too big for the, then, eight-year-old. Shiori's grandmother was able to hide the hole in the dark blue fabric with beautiful and painstakingly complex pink and silver embroidery that she had continued over the whole garment in clusters of flowers and butterflies. It had taken Shizuka nearly four months of daily sessions to complete the embroidery. Thus, Shiori had hardly dared to wear her best piece of clothing while she still lived in Kawa.

For a moment Shiori stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her family hadn't possessed one and so this was the first time she could truly see what she looked like. Her features were… pretty and delicate and those big blue eyes that stared back were nearly glowing, so bright were they. No wonder Fuji-san had wanted to marry her. Shiori felt both happy and embarrassed, Eliza had been average looking neither pretty, nor ugly but Shiori, well Shiori was pretty, even if she was still a child right now. The more Shiori stared at her features the clearer it became that once she was through puberty she would most definitely be considered beautiful. She carefully ran her hands over her slightly tanned face and to her petal-colored mouth, maybe it was arrogant but there was a certain amount of pride that she felt about her looks. She had lucked out with her genes no matter how much trouble they had caused her back in Kawa.

When she finally left the bathroom Shiori's eyes fell on her backpack that was stored neatly beside the entrance door and where her jade comb was still hidden. For a moment she contemplated if she should wear it but in the end she decided against it and simply wrapped a beige hair ribbon around the long locks to keep them out of her way.

XXXXXXXXX

The first job Shiori had written on her list was at a dango stand. But when she arrived, the owners had already hired somebody else. The second, third and fourth place also had filled the positions that had been advertised in the immigration office. Frustrated Shiori was on her way to the last address; a grocery store that looked for a cashier when a commotion in a side street drew her attention.

Shiori saw how a frustrated woman in a simple but well taken care of and clean kimono whispered furiously at a younger woman who looked like she was close to tears. Now normally Shiori would have tried to ignore a public disagreement and just walked by as if nothing was happening so that the participants could save face. But she came just into hearing distance when the younger woman apparently had enough of the public humiliation and simply turned around and walked away.

"If you leave now, don't bother coming back!" the elder woman snapped rather unhappily behind her.

Even with that prospective consequence the younger woman didn't react and just continued to walk away. The elder woman clenched her fists before letting out a deep sigh and cursing to herself, showing an appalling lack of self-control over which Shiori's own grandmother would have been horrified.

"Now, where the hell do I now get a girl than can do tea ceremonies?"

Shiori's eyes went wide at that, cursing aside, maybe this was her chance.

"E-excuse me? You are looking for someone who can do a tea ceremony?" Shiori asked tentatively, slightly blushing, after all she was acknowledging the fact that she had noticed the disagreement, something that would have been impossible in Kawa.

"Yes…are you saying YOU are able to do them?" the woman asked skeptically.

Her shoulders were drawn up and she was clearly uncomfortable about the whole situation. It seemed that even while the shinobi were a lot more direct and unbothered about confrontations, Konoha's civilian population was clearly closer in their views about 'saving face' to the country people than their shinobi.

"Yes, my grandmother insisted on them," Shiori confirmed with a shy smile.

Inwardly she thought, 'Though we only ever practiced with substitutes and below standard products'.

The woman eyed her up and down before she pelted Shiori with questions about a standard tea ceremony like a drill sergeant. Shiori's eyes went wide but she automatically answered the questions as exact as possible, the knowledge was deeply ingrained in her thanks to the many repetitions throughout the years. It felt like ages passed until the woman that still hadn't introduced herself stopped with her interrogation. For a moment there was silence between them while the woman scrutinized her from head to toe before she nodded apparently satisfied and gestured in the direction of the side entrance of the tea house.

"Wait here. I think we have a kimono in your size," the woman, hopefully her future employer, ordered once she had led Shiori inside and then promptly vanished into another room.

Unsure about what would happen now Shiori looked around. The back room of the tea house was impeccable clean and nothing was out of place. Shiori smiled a bit at that, her grandmother had always told her that the quality of an establishment could be measured by the cleanliness of the backroom and the state of the working kimonos.

Only a minute later the woman stood in front of her with a dark blue kimono that looked nearly exactly like her new employer's own. Without another word Shiori was ushered into the changing room to quickly dress. After she was deemed presentable and received some quick last minute instructions Shiori was shown into a separate serving room where she fulfilled her first tea ceremony without a hitch in front of the critical eye of her new employer who finally introduced herself as Echizen Reika. She nodded satisfied once Shiori had proven that she was capable, and was promptly put to work. For the next three hours she was left to her own devices while she served various groups of guests until the tea house closed for the day. By then Shiori was dead on her feet and her headache had returned and was incessantly pounding behind her temple, not that she showed that, she knew better than to give her new employer any reason to get rid of her.

Echizen-san watched Shiori for a moment after she had changed back into her original clothing and then sighed, "You are good. Your customers were all satisfied with your service and I did send some of our regularls in your direction… What are you doing at the moment?"

Shiori smiled shyly at the compliment, she was glad that she had left a good impression on her first ever customers, "I am looking for work actually."

The woman's eyes glittered at her admition before she purred, "Perfect. I need a worker; someone who doesn't mess up tea ceremonies at every turn or insults guests with rude behavior. I'm willing to hire you for twenty-five hours a week… that's a bit over four hours a day."

Shiori's smiled dimmed a bit and she hesitated a moment before she finally nodded, "Very well, I will accept the position. When will I begin?"

"Tomorrow at six am, you have the morning shift until ten am, everyday but Tuesday," Echizen-san stated firmly.

Shiori just nodded in response before she left the tea house. While walking through the streets her lips slowly started to turn up in a relieved smile, she had a job! Even if it was only part time for now. Hopefully she could become a full-time worker after a few trial weeks or she would have to search a second job so that she could start saving up for her future. With the position at the teahouse secured, Shiori felt some of the pressure fall away that she had been experiencing since her situation became clear to her and she made her way back to her new flat.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the next two weeks Shiori worked every morning in Echizen-san's tea house before she spent the rest of the day either in her immigration classes or exploring Konoha. It took a while for Shiori to get over the sheer awe and trepidation she felt at the sight of so many people around her. For the first few days Shiori even felt like she would drown in the masses without anyone ever noticing. Only slowly she began to enjoy walking through the busy village that was so very different from her former home. And while she had seen cities that were even bigger than Konoha in her dreams; it was a different experience to walk through these crowds instead of only seeing them, they practically sucked you in and if you weren't careful you had to fight your way back out.

Living in a village as big as Konoha also brought a certain loneliness that Shiori hadn't anticipated. With so many people living around her and coming and going at all hours of the day the people in her neighborhood did not immediately realize that they had a new member. She wasn't confronted with outright hostility or ignored but there was a certain sense of apathy to her existence. Shiori didn't think that her new neighbors meant it as an insult but for someone who had grown up in a tight-knit community that had welcomed new members with open arms it was a bit of a culture shock.

Thankfully it didn't stay like that for long, after her first few days of stumbling around Shiori became somewhat acquainted with the shop owners around her flat. It helped that Shiori had an excellent name-face memory and that she took care to always be polite and friendly to everyone. Her manners paid off quickly, not only were the shop owners more helpful but they also gave Shiori advise on things Konoha natives already knew, like how to navigate the village and where to buy the cheapest goods. These short chats between shelves and counters never turned into anything that Shiori would call friendship but it felt nice to be included and it saved her from feeling completely alone in Konoha.

Things got easier for Shiori after the first few weeks, people started to recognize her in her street and greet her and it seemed as if her colleagues at the teahouse were finally warming up to her.

XXXXXXXX

"Shiori-chan?" Michiko-san asked tentatively.

Sato Michiko was with her sixteen years the closest age-wise to Shiori and worked in the big front room of Echizen-san's during the same shift as Shiori.

"Yes, Michiko-san?" Shiori answered curiously.

Said girl scrunched her face up, "You know, you can call me Michiko-chan, right? Anyway, me and my friends are going to visit the public bath house down by the East market, they have great onsen and well… do you want to come along? I mean I know that you are new to Konoha and like this you could meet new people and well…" Michiko-chan had started to babble nervously.

"I… yes, thank you, Michiko-chan. I would love to." Shiori blurted out after a moment of stunned silence.

Michiko's face lit up and she grinned at her, "Great! We are meeting up at 2pm at the Ramen stand on the south side of the East market, do you know where that is?"

Shiori nodded.

"Great! See you then!"

"See you." Shiori mumbled still somewhat overwhelmed by her bubbly colleague.

Shiori came to love the public bath house, the price was comparatively cheap and she could relax in the hot water for hours, lean back and just let her thoughts drift while the light chatter around her made a pleasant background noise. Michiko's friends turned out to be just as bubbly as her and Shiori felt at ease with them, especially after they finally sated their curiosity about Shiori's move to Konoha and then quickly turned their attention back to the usual gossip… it felt nice to be included once again.


	7. Chapter 7 Acclimatizing to Konoha

A month after her first visit to the public bath house Shiori finally had to admit that the one thing that she had hoped desperatedly for, wouldn't be happening. There was simply no chance that she would be able to attain a full-time occupation at Echizen-san's, at least not anytime soon. All the workers at her tea house had been with Echizen-san for at least two years and there was just no way, no matter how good Shiori was that Echizen-san would choose her over one of the other workers. At least the money that she was earning was decent for a part time job. Shiori had received her first paycheck two days prior and with it she would be able to pay for her flat and groceries but if she ever wanted to have something better for herself Shiori would need a second income to save up money.

Otherwise her acclimatization to Konoha was going as well as one could expect. The change from working on her family's fields to suddenly working in a tea house and earning money for it was jarring and there was another change in her daily routine that Shiori hadn't expected. For the first time in her life she had a staggering amount of free time. There were hours and hours of time in which Shiori wasn't working at the tea house or sitting in her mandatory classes. And those classes would also end soon and then she would have even more free time. At first Shiori was happy enough with doing nothing for hours and hours on end. After her busy life as a farmer's daughter she felt like she deserved a break for once. The only problem was that within the first three days the restful quiet she had always craved turned into unbearable silence. Sitting around and doing nothing became vexing in a way that she hadn't anticipated. So to occupy some of her time Shiori turned to two of Eliza's favorite past-times, reading and cooking.

Reading was comparatively expensive for her. Konoha, while having many bookstores, had no public library for civilians. There were the archives but those were reserved for the Academy Students and Shinobi. So if she wanted to read Shiori had to actually buy the books and those were more often than not too expensive for her current budget. So whenever she had the opportunity she searched in second hand shops for old books to increase her tiny library that she had stacked up on top of her kitchen shelves.

Cooking as a hobby was comparatively more cost effective; she had to eat anyway after all. Even back in Kawa Shiori had enjoyed the task, and at that time she had to cook over open fire instead of the comfortable stove she now used. Here in Konoha she had access to an abundance of basic ingredients as well as the more exotic ones to reasonable prices. There were several grocery stores in easy walking distance but if she wanted to truly save money she visited the smaller farmer markets in the outskirts as early as possible. There Shiori stocked up on basic ingredients in bulk for a fraction of what she would have paid in the refrigerated stores. And so Shiori slowly worked herself through some old cookbooks that she had found in a thrift shop trying recipes she never even heard of. It was fun to experiment and it also gave her self-esteem a boost when something turned out to be delicious. Soon she had her own personal cookbook in which she wrote down the recipes that she had become especially fond of. In this she was strongly influenced by Eliza who herself had loved to cook and eat and always tried new things in her free time. With time Shiori even tried her hand on several dishes of Eliza's world, especially the sweets and desserts were something Shiori wanted to replicate. With more or less success.

That is to say, Shiori was not a five-star cook but she was decent and the familiar motions of cutting and dicing relaxed the twelve-year-old after a hectic day at the tea house. It felt soothing to her and there was a certain amount of satisfaction whenever a delicious smell waved through her flat.

XXXXXXXXXX

Two months after arriving in Konoha Shiori still hadn't found a suitable side-job, even though there were enough job offers on the market.

The problem was that most of her potential employers declined her because of various reasons like her young age, her accent that was only slowly vanishing, her lack of formal education or her lack of work experience. Shiori was getting desperate; she had hoped that finding additional work would be easier and by now was glad that she had brought up the courage to approach Echizen-san and ignored social propriety. The thought of still being unemployed and searching for any kind of work after two months of arriving in Konoha was a terrifying one. After another failed job application, a dejected Shiori walked home when she noticed some new ads out of the corner of her eyes on the district black board.

Konoha had erected these useful boards all over the village and they showed news, job offers and other important tidbits of information that could be useful for the Konoha's population to see. Though of course none of them contained anything even remotely to do with shinobi business or emergency procedures.

For a second Shiori hesitated, she still felt rather defeated from her last rejection, before she squared her shoulders and approached the board. Looking couldn't hurt after all. Reading through the ads Shiori soon felt her stomach sink. Most of them were too specific and so she quickly skimmed over them until her eyes landed on the third to last advertisement that was half hidden under another one. The ad described a part time job as a housekeeper and cook. Shiori could definitely do that, she had taken care of her family's household and her own grandmother while her parents worked the fields since she could remember. So she copied down the address and time of the interview on a spare piece of paper before she made her way home.

XXXXXXXXX

For the job interview Shiori wore what passed as Konoha modern civilian wear for the first time. She had found the modest brown skirt and the green shirt in the bargain bin and had promptly bought them when she found that they fit her. They had been paid for with her last wage and Shiori felt excited and nervous at the same time, right now she was wearing comparatively revealing clothing for a traditionally-raised farmer's daughter. To complete her looks, she also pulled her hair up in a simple high pony tail to keep it out of her face, another thing that she had never done before. Her grandmother had always made sure that she covered her nape when she wasn't wearing a kimono; Shizuka had thought it was highly improper for a young girl otherwise. For whatever reason her grandmother always had these ultra conservative views concerning dress and appearance, which her father had wholeheartedly supported.

Before she left the flat Shiori checked once more all her documents and the recommendation letter from Echizen-san and then made her way to the café where she would hopefully meet her new employer.

When she arrived and asked after Inoue-san she was shown to the back of the café where already a gaggle of giggling and whispering females around Shiori's age sat. Unsure what to do Shiori giving a general greeting in the direction of the other potential applicants sat down in one of the chairs a bit apart from them and let her eyes wander through the room. Beside the group of giggling teenagers were two women in their late thirties as well as an older woman who watched everything with sharp eyes.

At eleven am on the dot the old woman stood up and introduced herself as Inoue Mariko-san. Some of the giggling girls turned red and then white, it seemed as if they had gossiped about their potential employer right in front of her. With a few curt sentences the older woman halved the potential applicants and the gossipy teenage girls that had been told to leave quickly vanished through the door of the café. Shiori and the four other females that were left were asked to sit down on one of the round tables where they were offered refreshments and snacks.

The interview began with Inoue-san asking a few generic questions about what kind of experience they had in the household. It turned out that the two other girls around her age had never worked for an employer before and only had experience as far as their mothers had shown them. The two older women had both families and their own children and so were more than qualified. The only problem was that both of them would have to provide for their own families around the time Inoue-san wanted them to work for her.

"And you?" the strict looking woman asked Shiori when it was her turn.

"My name is Shiori, Inoue-san. I arrived in Konoha two months ago and work in the mornings as a serving girl at Echizen-san's tea house in the market district. Before I came to Konoha I was responsible for the household and the care of my grandmother while my parents were mostly out on the field," The black-haired girl stated simply, no need to beat around the bush.

"And how old are you? Fourteen, fifteen?" the strict looking woman wanted to know.

"Twelve, Inoue-san," Shiori clarified.

The other applicants looked curiously and in one case horrified at Shiori.

Inoue-san's impatient hand gesture clearly indicated that she wanted Shiori to elaborate.

"I live alone, Inoue-san. It doesn't matter how young I am, if I want to eat and keep my flat I have to work," Shiori said in a calm voice.

Those were the facts and there was nothing that she could do to change that.

"Hhm…" Inoue-san murmured before she dismissed the other four applicants with a few polite but firm words, after they had left she turned to Shiori once more. "Shiori-san I agree to a trial run this week and after that we will see if you meet my expectations."

"Thank you for the opportunity Inoue-san," Shiori said and sent the older woman a brilliant smile.

Inoue-san only nodded at that and continued to examine Shiori with her eyes, when she apparently had found what she was looking for she spoke once more, "Come to this address tomorrow at eleven am. Be prepared to cook both lunch and dinner, the groceries will be provided this time. We will talk about your other responsibilities after you have seen my flat.," and handed Shiori a sheet with an address on it.

After saying goodbye to her potential employer, a happy Shiori had to suppress the urge to squeal in joy. Finally, she had found a second job, now she only had to prove that she was a diligent worker and quick learner.


	8. Chapter 8 Inoue Mariko

Inoue-san turned out to be a strict but fair employer.

She expected Shiori's full attention on the job but in return also paid a rather generous salary for her work. Her tasks included preparing all of Inoue-san's meals, which meant that after she concluded her shift at Echizen's she routinely cooked lunch and dinner for both of them, breakfast was prepared the day before. Between the meals Shiori cleaned the rooms, did the laundry and shopped for groceries and household products for Inoue-san. In the event that Inoue-san left her home to run an errand herself, Shiori was expected to accompany the elderly women to carry her shopping or paperwork.

To Shiori's embarrassment, in the beginning she wasn't as perfect a housekeeper as she would have liked. Whenever she was confronted with unfamiliar tasks, especially around the household appliances she just wasn't used to she made mistakes and needed additional instructions from Inoue-san. Thankfully the woman was patient enough to explain the tasks as often as needed and small mistakes aside, the two soon fell into an enjoyable rhythm.

Within the first week Shiori realized why the otherwise so spry old woman needed a housekeeper. Inoue-san's left hand as well as a part of her left side were paralyzed and clearly caused her immense pain on some days. On normal days Inoue-san was able to conceal her impairment quite well, so for her to show discomfort the pain had to be substantial.  
At first Shiori didn't dare to say or do anything and turned a blind eye to Inoue-san's struggles without neglecting her duties as her help of course, she knew from her own proud grandmother that sometimes trying to help was a worse insult that doing nothing. So Shiori just discreetly placed the objects that Inoue-san used regularly in easy reach of her right hand and after noticing that the heat seemed to help with her pain, Shiori also prepared the kotatsu whenever possible and kept the room temperature slightly above normal levels.

But soon for Shiori that wasn't sufficient anymore, there had to be a way to help Inoue-san with the pain that wasn't an outright painkiller. The young housekeeper had quickly noticed that Inoue-san ignored the prescribed pills but in the direst moments. So Shiori inquired with the local experts, the Yamanaka flower shop, as it proclaimed above the entrance was a bit of a misnomer, yes they sold flower bouquets, but they also supplied shinobi with certain poisonous plants, the hospital with healing ones and several tea houses with their tea leaves. They covered such a broad spectrum of services that more than ¾ of their clan was involved in one way or another.  
Not surprising her questions elicited some prodding from Yamanaka-san, the wife of the clan head, about the injury and the person she needed the painkiller for. Shiori avoided mentioning Inoue-san's name outright, she felt strangely protective of the old woman's privacy, but indicated that it was for employer. Not that it prevented the Yamanak clan from finding out, the next time Shiori returned she was handed a package of an uncommon type of tea leaves with strict instructions about the dosage and how to prepare them.

Shiori was rather satisfied with her acquisition until she discovered that the medicinal tea had a strong bitter flavor. She knew from experience that Inoue-san coveted anything that tasted sweet, tangy and had massive amounts of sugar in it and abhorred bitterness, not that her expression changed when she was confronted with the bitter tea. So Shiori experimented at home to find a way to cover the taste or at least reduce it somewhat.

When Shiori's first experiments failed and she couldn't get rid of the bitter aftertaste she made another visit to the Yamanaka flower shop for additional advice. This time it was Yamanaka Inoichi who manned the shop. The shinobi was surprisingly insightful and a pleasure to be around, though Shiori was quite sure that he knew exactly what impact his charming personality had on her. Shiori had the vague suspicion that this was one part of the Yamanaka-clan's training to prepare their members for infiltrations and information gathering.  
Yamanaka-san recommended a few different types of leaves that would cover the bitterness with a minty freshness and then assured a concerned Shiori that none of the combinations would have a negative impact on the effect of the tea or the drinker. Feeling reassured by his confidence and clear competence in everything concerning plants Shiori returned to her experiments.

It took the black-haired girl a while to discover the right ratios for the various tea leaves but once that was done it was rather easy to grind the tea leaves into a fine powder, blend it with a hefty amount of sugar and sat that mixture aside to be used on a moment's notice. Shiori served the beverage that the powder produced more often cold than hot and was sweet, minty and tingled in the mouth every time one took a sip. The combination of leaves and sugar tasted fantastic and Shiori quickly found a harmless alternative for the bitter-tasting pain-reducing leaves to create a variation that she could drink herself.

Inoue-san didn't thank her per se but after the first few times she drank the tea and clearly noticed the numbing properties the old woman leveled an unreadable expression at Shiori before she returned to whatever she had done before. That the beverage wasn't rejected outright by the proud woman was thanks enough for Shiori. The prickly lady had wormed herself into Shiori's heart and she felt happy that she could help Inoue-san in some way.

XXXXXXXX

Shiori was so immersed in her work and new life that she was surprised when the first anniversary of her arrival in Konoha passed. With it came a short visit to the immigration bureau where her temporary documents were replaced with the permanent ones and she was given the run down about what kind of taxes she was expected to pay from now on. Once all her questions about the bureaucratic process were answered, Shiori made her way to the office that was responsible for the taxes to fill out the documents and hand over her employment information before paying her due for the first quarter in advance.

Feeling accomplished Shiori celebrated her new status as full-fledged Konoha citizen with some mochi. At times like this she whished rather desperately for the western desserts that Eliza had gorged herself on in her world. By now she knew that chocolate existed in this world but it was sold mostly in bars for consumption and used only sparingly to decorate dango or mochi, as far as she had found there was nothing remotely similar to a chocolate cake or croissant. Hell, Shiori hadn't even seen something close to a western styled cake in Konoha, the only thing that they seemed to have were mochi and dango or similar products made of sticky rice and bean paste. Don't get her wrong they were delicious but sometimes Shiori craved the sweets that had been the norm in Eliza's old life.

XXXXXXXXXX

During her second year in Konoha, after months of working for the old kunoichi and never learning anything even remotely personal about the elusive old woman, Shiori seemed to have proven her trustworthiness because Inoue-san began to open up a bit.

The elderly women let it slip that she was a former Jounin after Shiori admired the beautiful uchiwa (fans) along the walls. It felt a bit surreal to Shiori to be informed that those were deadly weapons instead of simple decorations.

"They were my primary weapons in the Second War. During the first I barely saw any action; I was just a Genin in the beginning and then I was too occupied with intelligence work to be sent out to fight against our opponents." Inoue-san explained offhandedly while her eyes rested on the weapons.

Shiori wasn't sure if she read her expression right but there was something like longing in Inoue-san's eyes. And then Shiori realized that Inoue-san was actually talking about herself, she must be in a good mood. Shiori let her eyes wander back to the massive fans that spanned half of the wall while she contemplated if she should risk pressing her luck before she resolutely stood up and retrieved the premade mint tea jug from the kitchen, the pain medication free, and two glasses.

Once she had taken her seat across from her employer she bit her lower lip before she tentatively asked, "Would you… would you tell me about the first years of the village and your ninja career?"

Inoue-san snorted before her lips turned up a bit and she closed her eyes with a deep sigh and a grudging, "Very well."

Inoue-san hummed for a moment while she collected her thoughts before she started to speak, "I can still remember when we first came to Konoha. I was maybe five or six and already training in the kunoichi arts. At that time the tasks of kunoichi revolved more around seduction and information gathering, even plain assassination than participating in open combat. I had learned how to use senbon and a wakizashi (short sword) but not much else. Additionally, I was damn good at suppressing my chakra signature and so perfectly suited to become a spy. That's why I was one of only two girls in my year. There were twenty-one of us, all from different clans and backgrounds and all massively distrustful of the other clan children."

Mariko chuckled dryly at that and took another sip of her tea.

"There was no camaraderie like they are preaching today and the so-called Academy was a trial phase of two months in which we were tested against each other and then sorted into the most suitable teams. We were the second year that was sorted like that. Hiruzen-sama, our venerable Sandaime, was in that year. He lucked out because the Shodai and then the Nidaime Hokage taught his team… Anyway, I was paired with a Yamanaka and an Aburame while our Genin sensei was an Inuzuka…"

At that she burst into laughter and genuine delight showed in her eyes while she continued her story.

"It was quite the culture shock. I'm not sure if you have already encountered some but the Inuzuka can be very direct. It took all three of us a while to understand that Namie-sensei wasn't insulting us. That it was just the way she dealt with the children of her clan. It was thanks to her example that I developed my combat abilities far enough to attain the rank of Jounin. It was quite an interesting experience for someone who had grown up in an insular clan compound, you should have seen us on our first D-rank mission, it was a catastrophe…"

Shiori then was treated to hilarious stories about Inoue-san's Genin team as well as some amusing anecdotes about the venerable Senju Hashirama. Who according to Inoue-san, had been a powerful man, but also was completely whipped by his four-year-old granddaughter. Shiori found herself laughing in disbelief when she heard about the revered first Hokage being bossed around by a little blonde girl on his shoulders and his brother the Nidaime always being on his case because of paperwork.

Inoue-san's lips quirked again while she watched Shiori sniggering before her eyes fell to the clock.

"Child. Why didn't you say how late it is? You should be home already." She scowled gently.

Shiori glanced up herself and her mouth nearly fell open, they had sat together for about three hours while Inoue-san had told her stories about her life.

"Well? Go on then, you have work tomorrow morning."

Shiori simply continued to smile, the gruff dismissal was easily ignored, "Thank you for indulging me today Inoue-san. Have a good night."

"Tze. Good night girl. Now go."


	9. Chapter 9 Uchiha massacre

That evening was the beginning of many nights in which Shiori was regaled with stories about Inoue-san's life. It was fascinating to hear about how the political and societal climate had changed in the last fifty years and how much Konoha had actually accomplished in that short time. Of course, there were also stories about missions gone wrong and how Inoue-san lost her Genin teammates and ninety percent of her graduation class during missions or the Great Shinobi Wars. Shiori wasn't sure but she got the feeling that during the times Inoue-san talked about her past she didn't censor herself for her sake. It was heart wrenching and the gory details were not easy to swallow but even during the worst parts Shiori kept listening, she felt like she owed Inoue-san that.

That was also how Shiori learned about Inoue-san's crippling injury. Her employer had received it during the Second Shinobi war, at that time she had been in her thirties and already survived more than three quarters of her graduation class when she was assigned to lead the intelligence team that kept an eye Iwa's movements in Kusagakure. Half a year before the end of the war they were discovered because of a rookie mistake. Inoue-san and four other Jounin stood their ground to give the lower ranks time to flee and take as much information with them as possible. When a relief team finally arrived, Inoue-san and the Hyuuga Jounin were all that was left. It was during that fight that she took a lightning jutsu to her left arm. The attack destroyed all her tenketsu points up to her elbow and damaged the ones along her left torso. It was the end of her combat career. From then on until the end of the third Great Shinobi War Inoue-san served as intelligence kunoichi, analyzing data at the Konoha headquarters before she finally retired completely when the end of the war was declared.

During another one of these conversations Inoue-san also implied with an off-hand comment that she still had living family in Konoha but that they hadn't contacted her in over ten years. Shiori felt outraged on the woman's behalf, in the region she grew up something like that would have been unthinkable. If somebody was too old or injured to live alone and still had family, they would take care of their elder without complaint or having to be asked, it was just a given. Knowing Inoue-san as the strong and independent person she was Shiori kept quiet about this no matter how infuriated she was. Tracking down Inoue-san's relatives to berate them for their callous behavior would be pointless and just hurt the old kunoichi's pride. So instead Shiori made sure to steer clear of the topic of Inoue-san's relatives from then on.

XXXXXXXXXXX

And then the Uchiha massacre happened.

It was the topic of many hushed conversations even months after. People were shocked and frightened that something like this could happen in the middle of Konoha and there was this niggling feeling that something wasn't quite right about this tragedy. Not that anyone dared to say anything out loud, but the shinobi were suddenly eyed with a veiled sense of suspicion and mistrust that took a while to dissipate. There was also a surge of sudden emigrations during the first few months and generally more violence than Shiori was used to in the streets. This thankfully calmed down a few months later when it became clear that nothing else was happening but at the time it was frightening.

Shiori now knew where she roughly was in the Naruto timeline, the Uchiha massacre had been a rather rude awakening for the civilian. The Konoha eleven were currently in the Academy and war and destruction was still some years off. For the first time in years Shiori asked herself if staying in Konoha was worth the risk. Living in the aftermath of the Uchiha massacre finally drove home the point that an invasion and potentially getting killed in the process was a very real possibility for a civilian like Shiori. On the other hand, Shiori had become emotionally attached to the village, the friends and acquaintances she had made there and the general life-style. It would be very hard to pack up her possessions and leave for an uncertain future somewhere else.

it also drove home that she had started to forget the knowledge her former self had possessed about the timeline, there were events and people she only recalled vaguely.

In the sleepless hours before dawn, lying in her bed, she admitted to herself that she was already too invested in Konoha to ever think of leaving it, even if it meant that she would have to weather the attacks that would follow in the coming years. In the end, to keep her options as open as possible, Shiori decided to wait until shortly before the Chunin exams to make her final decision and keep track on the property prices in the capital, just in case.

Another discovery in the aftermath of the Uchiha massacre that shook her was that she was slowly beginning to forget Eliza's knowledge about the Naruto mangas and movies. There were people and events she could only recall vaguely; it was as if there was a niggle at the back of her mind that she couldn't quite reach anymore. To not lose the rest of her foreknowledge to time she sat down and began to create a timeline. The four pages that she had written in barely legible English were sewn into the liner of her father's old bag that sat at the back of her closet and would hopefully never be used.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Shortly before she turned fourteen Shiori increased her efforts in recreating the sweets Eliza had known her whole life.

The reason for that was simple, she had started her period. She knew from the Eliza's memories how painful period cramps could be, but it was still something different to experience it herself. The first two times weren't so bad but the third time had her irritable and in a constant low-level pain that made her crave chocolate cake and cookies desperately.

Most of the time Shiori's baking attempts went spectacularly wrong because she either hadn't the right ingredients at hand or something about the temperature or amount of the dough was off. Those few attempts that turned out right were celebrated and promptly devoured. Only after Shiori felt confident that she wouldn't mess them up she started to present them to Inoue-san. The old kunoichi's feedback helped Shiori adapt and improve them further until both were satisfied with the taste and texture.

"I think sponge cake is an apt description." Inoue-san said while she prodded the fluffy texture with a small fork.

Shiori had been surprised to find western-styled cutlery in a few shops around Konoha, but then maybe she shouldn't have been. After all, if you looked long enough you could get dishes like paella, spaghetti, even dishes that reminded her of Scandinavian food in Konoha. Of course, you had to go to specialty restaurants and shops for that but they did exist. The owners were all second or third generation immigrants from a group of small isles to the east, at least that was what she had discovered through the rumor mill.

"Is that what you want to be? A chef?" Inoue-san asked after another long moment of silence.

Shiori looked up and gave the question some serious thought before she shook her head.

"No. I like cooking and it is fun to create new recipes but I can't really see myself standing in a kitchen for the rest of my life." She said finally, eyes fixed on the strawberry cake in front of her.

"So what would you like to do then, if it isn't cooking?" Inoue-san sounded genuinely curious.

Shiori hummed thoughtfully before she said slightly reluctant, "To be honest I have never really thought about what I would LIKE to do… dreams and choices are only for people who are financially independent."

Until now it had been more about what Shiori did NOT want to do for the rest of her life and how she would achieve that than a specific dream really, but now that she thought about it…

"I… probably would like to own a tea house like Echizen-san's. There I could offer different types of tea and some of the desserts I created… yes, that would be nice."

Shiori smiled to herself, it was a nice dream and didn't even sound too impossible, if she saved up enough money there was a very real chance that she could actually become a teahouse owner one day. Inoue-san snorted amused before she stretched lightly and turned back to her book, the old woman seemed to ponder something before she shook her head. It was weird, now that the idea of owning a teahouse had been spoken out loud she couldn't let go of the idea. Questions about the when's and how's whirled through her head while she cleaned up Inoue-san's kitchen. Once she was done she joined her employer once more at the kitchen table and then asked something that had been bugging her for the last ten minutes.

"Inoue-san what requirements do shinobi have to feel at ease at a tea house? I see so few of them at Echizen's place."

Inoue-san just smiled wryly at Shiori before she gave in and said, "Well first and foremost, the room has to be well lit, there can't be a corner where a potential threat could hide…then the tables should be spaced out enough so that they ninja can move in case of an attack. To the food and the drinks…ninja are paranoid Shiori-chan; if they have no way to check for poisons they probably won't drink or eat it. So food and drink preparation on the table if possible…oh and the windows, no tables right beside the window, somebody could take aim from outside and easily kill them, or at least wound them."

"Oh, so the windows should be high up, that nobody can look inside," Shiori tried to clarify.

"Hhm…yes possibly. What would you serve in your tea house besides tea and desserts?" Inoue-san prodded further.

"Eh, probably standard things like curry rice and a fixed menu at lunch," Shiori contemplated.

Inoue-san nodded to this before she turned once again to her book. Most of their afternoons were spent like this while they fantasized about and discussed Shiori's dream teahouse, an exercise that both enjoyed.

XXXXXXXXX

With fourteen Shiori also started to attract attention from suitors.

It wasn't like she had gone unnoticed since her arrival in Konoha but her small stature and still rather girlish body had kept most of her admirers at bay. Now that she had grown a few centimeters and she required a bra to support her developing breasts, the men around her became bolder. When she visited the market, or walked home she was asked out by blushing teenagers or young men.  
Though Shiori was flattered and enjoyed the attention to a certain extend she always respectfully declined these invitations. The black-haired teenager had no desire to date any of them, not with her mental maturity being so far ahead of the civilian teenage boys. That didn't mean that she didn't notice the men around her, Shiori's eyes tended to wander involuntary to fit arms and handsome faces, curtesy to her developing body and surging hormones. But a relationship wasn't her priority at the moment, maybe when she was older and the men in her age group had matured somewhat. She would try at least, because Shiori wanted a family of her own. Since her memories came back and she realized in what kind of situation she was, she had always dreamed of having a love match instead of an arranged marriage. Now here in Konoha she actually had a chance to build a family with somebody she genuinely liked.

Arranged marriages had been the norm in Kawa and the surrounding villages, only rarely did the bride and groom know each other before hand, let alone had the opportunity to fall in love before their wedding. Thus, these matches often turned out to be incompatible and both were stuck in an unhappy marriage. Durin her first few years aware of her former life Shiori had been resigned to this fate until the very moment her grandmother had made her promise to not allow herself to be forced into one.


	10. Chapter 10 Two years in Konoha

Shiori's next two years were uneventful, she turned fifteen and then the months leading up to her sixteenth birthday were melting away rapidly. In that time, she continued to work for both Echizen-san and Inoue-san, a work that she really enjoyed. She also developed friendships with staff members and several tentative acquaintances with civilian girls she had met through her colleagues or in the market place. They included her in gossip and pointed out bargains or new shops to her but Shiori never really connected with any of them on a deeper level. Some of them didn't even know that she was born outside of Konoha, the prejudices about country pumpkins and foreigners were unfortunately very real and Shiori had no interest in being gossiped about behind her back.  
Her closest friend to this day was Michiko, who was now eighteen years old and had married her long-time boyfriend a few months ago. They had their bimonthly visit to the onsen followed by lunch in one of the smaller restaurants or at home.

Shiori couldn't say that she minded her lack of social life, she certainly wasn't missing it but a small voice in her back was insisting that this was not healthy and she had to do something about it. After a long inner debate, Shiori finally turned to Inoue-san for a second opinion.

Her employer's response was to snort in amusement and shake her head, completely unconcerned by her worries, "It doesn't surprise me. You have a good, sensible head on your shoulders which is much more than most civilians can say. You are simply too mature for them; ninja would be a more appropriate company for you," Inoue-san sighed once more before she continued, "It's a shame really. If you had been born in Konoha you probably would have made a decent kunoichi with your quick mind. In any case, people are different and some prefer a more solitary lifestyle than others, as long as you feel comfortable and are satisfied with yourself there is nothing to worry about."

Shiori wasn't sure if she felt flattered or terrified by the prospect of being considered good ninja material. Thankfully Inoue-san didn't seem to want an answer to her lamentation and so Shiori simply shrugged her shoulders and tried her best to forget Inoue-san's comment. Even if she had been reborn in Konoha she never had the intention to become a ninja!  
The conversation had at least one benefit, Shiori stopped worrying so much about making close civilian friends. If she met somebody who would suit her character that would be great but Shiori wasn't going out of her way to find such a person.

Another thing that had changed was Shiori's drive. Ever since she had substantiated what she wanted to achieve in her life she was no longer drifting from week to week without real goal. Shiori was actively working to realize her dream. She was researching, making plans and saving money wherever she could. She had several rough drafts and outlines for the day when she finally had enough capital to open a tea house. These plans were regularly renewed whenever she came across new information about this or that topic, it was a work in progress and it made her pay close attention to how Echizen-san was running her business. But between all these changes and vague ideas there was on thing that she was holding on to, the one element that would help to set herself apart from all the other tea houses in Konoha.

Her sweets.

Ever since the conversation with Inoue-san Shiori had increased her efforts to replicate various recipes from Eliza's life. The reason for that was simple enough, everything that she accomplished now she wouldn't have to do while she tried to establish her business.  
The research of various ingredients and baking techniques led Shiori into another field of study that she hadn't quite expected, mixing tea. After seeing the results of her experiments with the analgic tea for Inoue-san she was intrigued by the effect a simple cup of boiling water with a few dried leaves could have on the body and mood. It led her headfirst into a rather broad research field, that to her knowledge never had been explored by civilians. Most of the books that covered the topic tea only examined its history and various ceremonies, there were even books about the tea utensils but only a handful mentioned other tea mixtures than the mainstream tea sorts like green tea. So Shiori began with her own research, painstakingly writing down what she remembered from Eliza's life and scouring plant books and medical texts for the barest mention of plants that could be used in beverages. Because they were used, any housewife in the market could list at least three household remedies for a sore throat, including which herbal tea to drink. There just weren't any books about it, or if there were somebody kept them under lock and key. It developed into a bit of an obsession for Shiori, she even had whole spread sheets of information with foot notes to trace back certain information to various books. In a sense, it was comparable to the assignments Eliza had to do during her college years and Shiori felt a deep longing for the convenience of the internet, that would make everything SO much easier. Then there were the experiments, so many experiments. She had to figure out the dosage, how long the tea needed to brew, which herbs worked together and which had opposite effects… it was a long process. Shiori idly contemplated publishing her findings one day, then thought about her teahouse and decided against it, if her tea mixtures became popular the recipes would be something worth holding on to.

All that led to her becoming a well-known and liked patron of the Yamanaka flower shop. So much that both elder Yamanakas took up the habit of sneaking samples of obscure tea leaves or herbs into her orders, most of which she then reordered because of the unique flavors. Shiori even bought several potted tea bushes and a cinnamon tree from them. They found their way up onto her building's roof patio, that had seen next to no use before Shiori's pots took over the space. The hot and humid climate as well as the shade from the other buildings made it an ideal growing location for the young plants. The cinnamon tree had shot up in the two years since its purchase. When the time came to cut it down close to the root, Inoichi-san even visited her at home and showed Shiori how to cut the tree, taking the excess of wood with him. The Yamanakas would use it in whatever way they needed, while Shiori was now waiting for fresh shoots to come out so she could harvest them for her own use. While they worked side by side, the gardening lesson on the roof turned into a lively discussion about cinnamon and its uses as a flavor enhancer in tea and other beverages. Which led to Shiori sharing her recipe for iced cinnamon green tea that they were drinking while working. Later Shiori realized that Inoichi probably had stirred the conversation in that direction for exactly that purpose, she really needed to work on her secret keeping abilities.

It was days and interactions like that, which solidified Shiori's decision to stay. Somehow between working for Inoue-san and finding amusement in keeping Inoichi-san from teasing out all her tea mixtures, Shiori had come to love Konoha.

She loved the tranquility of the village's streets in the morning and the busy atmosphere during the day. She even enjoyed the few run-ins she had with Konoha's more eccentric inhabitants, lead of course by all the Maito Gai interactions she had witnessed. Konoha's green beast could be relied on to run on his hands through the streets or doing other outlandish exercises on the rooftops at all possible and impossible times. It was hilarious to watch, even if slightly cringe worthy for everyone involved, everyone but said green beast, who didn't seem to have a shy bone in his body. It also helped that Maito-san was a genuinely nice person and had no problem with interrupting his training to help people out. That alone brought a smile to Shiori's face whenever she heard him shout encouraging phrases at himself and others while he jumped from roof to roof.

The ninja of Konoha were generally a friendly lot, interspersed with bouts of arrogance and rude behavior but Shiori knew that assholes were a human ailment and that it clearly didn't exclude the chakra using part of the population, so she just shrugged it off and didn't take it personally. Inoue-san had been right, Shiori liked the straight-to-the-point interactions with ninja better than the pretentious talks that she was subjected to by most civilians. Of course, once again Shiori knew that a generalization like that wasn't fair or accurate but while she knew several genuinely nice civilians, like Michiko and Echizen-san, Shiori also seemed to attract gossipers, ass-kissers and people who couldn't see past their own nose.

Living in Konoha also drove home how big the Hidden Village really was. In the four years she had now lived here she had not once run into Naruto's generation. The only exception being Ino-chan, who she saw regularly thanks to her parents' flower shop. At some point Shiori also believed to have seen a dark pineapple head and a chubby boy with chips in his hands walking through the streets but when she turned around they were always gone. Not that this was unexpected, the Academy was after all close to the Hokage tower while she lived in the outskirts of Konoha and only commuted to the market district because of her work, shopping and the Yamanaka shop. Konoha was certainly big enough that you could avoid somebody for years on end if you just chose to live in a different area than the person you wanted to avoid.

Four years into her residency and Shiori still discovered new streets or small parks when she took a false turn. There were even hidden gardens and trees on top of the bigger buildings that you only noticed once you literally stumbled over them. Konoha was a real-life wonderland with small mysteries and hidden surprises if you just looked close enough.

In Shiori's mind her life could have continued like this forever.

So when on a Wednesday afternoon Shiori found a dead Inoue-san in her bed, she didn't know what to do at first.


	11. Chapter 11 Inoue-san's death and Will

Shiori already had experience with the dead, her own family's death having occurred only a few years ago, so it wasn't a new situation for her when she found Inoue-san. But just like with her grandmother, Inoue-san's death hurt.  
It took Shiori a while until she could drag herself away from her dead employer's bed. With absentminded care, she lifted one of the clean white linens out of the hallway cupboard and gently laid it over Inoue-san's corpse. After that she locked the flat and made her way to the hospital.

There was something to be said about shinobi hospitals and their efficiency, within minutes of her informing the receptionist of her employer's death a team had been assembled to accompany her back to Inoue-san's flat. Shiori waited in the living room while the medic-nin and the two morgue workers completed their duties. She didn't have the stomach to enter the room again while the person that had been closest to her since her arrival in Konoha laid cold and stiff in her bed.

Her mind was occupied with what this would mean for her, after all she had not only lost a dear friend but also a part of her income. What was she going to do now?

"Shiori-san? We are finished now," the attending medic said gently, her voice had the perfect amount of professionalism and sympathy, Shiori suspected that she had a lot of experience in these kinds of situations.

Shiori nodded before hesitatingly asked, "Do you… do you know what…"

"It was a mixture of her age and an old injury that led to organ failure, Shiori-san."

"Did she suffer?" Shiori blurted out, she had paled when the medic mentioned Inoue-san's injury. Was the wound so bad that it had killed her and Shiori hadn't noticed?

"As far as we can tell right now? No, Shiori-san. She just stopped breathing in her sleep, there is no evidence of pain."

"… good," Shiori said while she shakily let out a breath, "It's just so unexpected."

"You said you were her housekeeper? Did she give you any instructions concerning her passing? If she had regular check-ups she should have known that it was coming."

Shiori shook her head, "No, I… she never said anything… but she had checkups, every two months or so… how did I not see…?"

"Inoue-san was a kunoichi, Shiori-san," the woman said matter of fact, "retired or not. It would have been easy for her to hide her condition if she didn't want you to know."

Shiori bit her lip and nodded, it made a certain amount of sense, Inoue-san was too prideful to say anything but that didn't stop her from feeling slightly hurt at the lack of trust, what had Inoue-san thought she would do? Quit?

"We will take her body to the morgue for additional tests, do you know who to inform about her passing?"

"Yes," Shiori assured with a small nod, she would go directly to Atsuka-san, he was Inoue-san's lawyer and would know who to inform.

"Good." The medic said, her professional smile back in place before she returned to Inoue-san's bedroom to finish with her tasks.

Five minutes later and Shiori was alone in Inoue-san's flat. With numb fingers Shiori removed the groceries from the apartment before she closed the flat.

When she handed over the key with news of Inoue-san's passing to her attorney, Atsuka Heiji-san looked sad but unsurprised, it seemed as if he had been aware of her worsening condition. The attorney reassured Shiori that Inoue-san left detailed instructions what was to happen after her death. It eased some of Shiori's concerns about the funeral arrangements, she really didn't want this task in the hands of somebody that Inoue-san didn't approve of, and so she left Atsuka-san's office to return to her home.

In the privacy of her own home Shiori finally allowed herself to cry and really feel Inoue-san's loss. An hour into her grieving Shiori ran through all the things that she would be unable to share with Inoue-san from now on. The old woman had been such an intricate part of Shiori's life that she was at loss how to fill the holes that were left behind by her. For the last four years Shiori had spent every major event with Inoue-san. Be it New Year, Obon (celebration to honor the ancestors) or the various other festivals that Konoha held each year. The thought of spending these days alone had Shiori sobbing again, hands pressed against her face while hot tears found their way down her cheeks. Sometime in the late evening she fell asleep.

The next day Shiori felt just as miserable, her eyes were puffy and red and her heart ached, still she pulled herself together and left for work. When Shiori arrived at Echizen-san's tea house the next day, her employer took one look at her face and sent her home. Back at her flat Shiori took a glance in the mirror and quietly conceded the point. Her eye lids were still red and puffy from all the crying the day before and her eyes had a wet sheen that promised fresh tears at a moment's notice. Not something that her customers should have to see. With the day off and no pressing chores to do, Shiori spent most of it in her futon with a plate of homemade cookies, tissues and some tea to calm her nerves. She had now lost the second maternal figure in her life.

On the second day after Inoue-san's death Shiori had herself enough under control that she could work at the tea house again. It had hit her during the night that Inoue-san's passing had not only created emotional hurt for Shiori. With her second income gone, money would become a problem sooner or later. For now she had a cushion thanks to the money she had periodically set aside for her future teahouse but it would feel like a major setback to have to use it. From a financial standpoint Shiori probably should have started to look for additional work right away but she just didn't have the heart to search for new work so soon.  
Even with her best efforts to hide her state Shiori looked tired and worn in the following days. It went so far that some of her customers even approached Echizen-san and other servers to find out what was wrong with her. Shiori was grateful when the weekend arrived, she had swapped with a colleague earlier that month and these days off couldn't have come at a more opportune moment.

On Saturday morning, Shiori found an invitation to Inoue-san's will reading the following Monday in her mailbox. The letter from Atsuka-san's office hit Shiori a bit out of the left field. Which was stupid in hindsight, she had known that Inoue-san had liked her, it shouldn't surprise her that the old kunoichi wanted to bequeath something to her. Maybe it was even money to start her own tea house… the thought made her feel guilty and hopeful at the same time. Inoue-san had supported Shiori's ambitions, maybe she had the time to discuss that with Atsuka-san… or maybe Shiori was completely wrong and Inoue-san only left her a letter. In any case, she promised herself that no matter what happened she wouldn't be disappointed, whatever happened on Monday she would be grateful.

The will reading was in the afternoon so Shiori didn't have to ask for a day off from work. She arrived a few minutes' prior the appointment in her best set of black clothes. She still had dark rings around her eyes and was paler than usual but at least eyes weren't puffy anymore. In the anteroom of Atsuka-san's office was already a group waiting, they too were clothed in black but their wardrobe was distinctly better quality than Shiori's. They also had a rather impatient air around them, Shiori didn't need to be a ninja to figure out that this was Inoue-san's estranged relatives… it was probably better that they hadn't shown their faces in the last few years, they exactly that type of people that Inoue-san had abhorred. Which didn't help Shiori's mood, with more effort than she liked she suppressed the urge to glare at them, there was no way she would make a scene at Inoue-san will reading, not matter her personal feelings.

When they were finally all called into the adjourning room, some of the Matokas sent deprecatingly sneers in Shiori's direction and Shiori just barely stopped herself from reacting in any way, she would not sink to their level.  
Inside the room Shiori was greeted by the sight of two Chunin who were standing behind Atsuka-san and were flanking him. The forty-year-something woman, who seemed to be the ring leader of the Matokas didn't seem to like their presence and asked the attorney why they were there in a rather rude way.

"It is standard procedure in Konoha that at least two Chunin are present when the will of such a distinguished Jounin like Inoue-san is read, Matoka-san. They are here to ensure that her last will is followed to a T," Inoue-san's attorney explained in a rather clipped voice.

The civilian woman's face seemed to pinch but she then just nodded and dropped the matter.

"Very well, if everybody has found a seat let's begin," Atsuka-san said and started to read Inoue-san's will.

 _I, Inoue Mariko a Jounin kunoichi of Konohagakure no Sato, being of sound mind, declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. I revoke all wills and codicils previously made by me._

 _I appoint Atsuka Heiji as my Personal Representative to administer this Will, and ask that he be permitted to serve without Court supervision and without posting bond. If Atsuka Heiji is unwilling or unable to serve, then I appoint Shiori of Kawa to serve as my Personal Representative, and ask that she be permitted to serve without Court supervision and without posting bond._

 _I direct my Personal Representative to pay out of my residuary estate all of the expenses of my last illness, administration expenses, all legally enforceable creditor claims, all Konoha estate taxes, inheritance taxes, and all other governmental charges imposed by reason of my death without seeking reimbursement from or charging any person for any part of the taxes and charges paid, and if necessary, reasonable funeral expenses, including the cost of any suitable marker for my grave, without the necessity of an order of court approving said expenses._

 _I devise, bequeath, and give my entire fortune, be it monetary or otherwise to Shiori of Kawa under the condition that she takes on my last name and will be known from now on as Inoue Shiori._

 _Should Shiori of Kawa not survive me by 30 days, her share shall be distributed to the Konoha orphan fund._

 _Inoue Mariko, Jounin of Konoha_

After Atsuka-san stopped reading there was a moment of dead silence, before Matoka-san and her family broke out into outraged shouts only to be silenced when the two Chunins radiated slight killing intent. Shiori felt sick and shaky while she tried to keep her composure, she wanted to be far far away from this room and curl up somewhere to recover from this awful feeling.

Atsuka-san who was clearly used to the killing intent after having executed more than one ninja will in his time took a deep breath and stated, "This is the will of Inoue-san and it will be followed. Matoka-san, Inoue-san left a letter for your family. Do you wish to hear it?"

The angry civilian only nodded, unable to say anything.

"Very well," Atsuka-san said neutrally.

 _To the family of my deceased cousin Matoka Shin,_

 _in the last fourteen years of my life I haven't seen hide nor hair from even one of you, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that none of you will receive anything of the money I have earned throughout my life with my blood and my pain._

 _Inoue Mariko, Jounin of Konoha_

There was a short uncomfortable silence, before one of the men shouted, "That is no reason whatsoever to give her money to a stupid little servant girl that is probably an inheritance hunter!" his sentence was approved by the other members of his family.

Atsuka-san looked outraged for a second before he calmed slightly and said with an ice-cold voice. "Matoka-san calm yourself or I will have you and your family removed from my premises and fined with libel. Now Inoue-san has given me strict instructions concerning her fortune and I will see them through. Shiori-san if you would please come with me?" at the last part of his sentence his voice took on a gentler tone.


	12. Chapter 12 Taking on the Inoue name

Atsuka Heiji had known Shiori of Kawa for three years now, and in his opinion she was a pleasant if rather quiet young woman with eyes too old for her age. She was also quick on the uptake and willing to learn, so much in fact that he had considered offering her a job once or twice. That was, until a rather pointed comment of Inoue-san had stopped any kinds of thoughts in that direction, Inoue Mariko was not somebody you crossed lightly.  
Shiori-san had accompanied Inoue-san to more than one appointment and in the last two years, she was even included when they discussed the proceedings around the flat and some of Inoue-san's investments. Probably to prepare her for her inheritance, Inoue-san had been sneaky like that. A dull pang of sorrow run through him at the thought of his former client, he had liked the old dragon and her no-nonsense attitude. For as long as he had known her, she had never left anything to chance, wickedly smart and sneaky as most shinobi of her age were and always watching everything. There had been an undertone of something ugly and sad in her that had become rather pronounced in her last years. So when she started to bring young Shiori with her, he had felt better that the retired kunoichi finally had somebody to distract her from her increasing bitterness. By the time Inoue-san had come to him to change her will in Shiori's favor he had been expecting it for quite a while. In his opinion the young girl deserved the money more than anyone on the Matoka side of Inoue-san's family.

Said family was escorted out of his office in that moment and Heiji was sure that the two Chunin enjoyed the humiliation of the rude civilians via Inoue-san's letter just as much as he had. The Matokas had been harassing him about the old Jounin's last will since the moment they learned about her death with no inquiry about the deceased's funeral arrangements. That they had received nothing and Shiori-san everything made him want to whistle. Days like these made him glad to be an attorney.

Speaking of Shiori-san, Atsuka watched a bit concerned as the chalk white girl walked into his office, she was visibly overwhelmed by what she had just learned and took deliberately deep breaths to calm herself. Heiji commiserated, this must have been quite a shock, the girl came from a rural background where it was virtually unheard of that somebody outside the family inherited. And as far as he was aware Inoue-san hadn't spoken a word about Shiori-san being in her will, let alone be her sole beneficiary. So he kept silent for while she situated herself in a chair, only when she looked calm enough to actually listen to what he was telling her he placed the documents he had prepared in front of her. Heiji led her gently through the legal jargon and pointed at the spaces where she had to sign for her name change. With shaking hands Shiori-san signed the papers and then paled even further when she finally saw the numbers on the bank statements, if she wanted to, she could stop working and live off her inheritance for the rest of her life. Inoue-san's investments were scattered all over Fire country and would make enough money that Shiori-san would never want for anything.  
When the legal requirements were completed, Heiji handed another sealed letter over to Shiori-san, Inoue-san had written it only a few months ago when it became clear that she hadn't much time left.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Dear Shiori-chan,_

 _I know that my death must have come as a surprise to you, but I have known that it was only a matter of months for quite some time now. You have given me a lot of joy this past few years and I am glad that I chose you to become my housekeeper. You are an intelligent young girl and I feel relieved that I can entrust my family name and fortune to someone like you and not those vultures of second cousins of mine. Beside my flat and a few houses which are rented out, there is the former clan compound of the Inoue. I had it closed after the last of my ninja relatives died during the third shinobi war. I know how you always dreamed of buying a house somewhere close to the woods and I think the clan compound would be the right place for you, but that is up to you now.  
Should you decide to use it I urge you to hire ninja to go through the building before moving in. I set traps and other countermeasures before the house was closed and they are most certainly still active._

 _This inheritance will also assure that you can open that tea house you have been fantasizing about, I expect you to succeed, you are smart enough for it. Don't let anyone discourage you from doing what you want._

 _I know I never thanked you in our time together but your company was much appreciated, if I was even an ounce more sentimental I would even say that you became dear to me as if you were my own grandchild. But enough of mushy feelings, I wish you a fulfilled life and that you find what you wish for._

 _Inoue Mariko_

Shiori noticed that something was dripping on Inoue-san's letter, confused she lifted her hand to her face and realized that she was crying. With numb fingers, she put the letter down on Atsuka-san's desk, fuitely trying to keep her composure while more and more tears started to run down her face in rivulets. Shiori escaped a tiny sob and no matter how hard she tried to calm herself down, it only got worse, her sobs were now clearly audible in the room. All the grief, distress and confusion poured out of her, loss of face and dignity be damned.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Heiji stood beside her, unsure what to do, he was part embarrassed, part empathetic. He knew Shiori-san as a level-headed, very polite young woman who strictly adhered to several in Konoha 'outdated' social customs that reminded him of his time in the capital. To see her lose her composure and cry was not something he had expected, nor wanted to witness again. He settled on moving the tissue box in front of the young woman and then left his office to get help from his secretary Mamoru-san. The plump mother of three took one look at Shiori and took the distressed young woman aside to comfort her. In any other situation, Mamoru-san's actions were terribly presumptious and could easily lead to the loss of a client, but there were times her consolation worked, and Atsuka was glad that he personally didn't have to deal with these kinds of outbursts.

It took Shiori-san some minutes to calm down and stop the tears from coming. As expected, the moment she had some of her composure back she apologized, mortified at her lack of decorum. Both adults politely accepted said apology and with that the topic was dismissed. Shiori-san wasn't the first person that had broken down in the office and she would surely not be the last one.  
Atsuka agreed readily to take on Shiori-san as a new client, as well as the management of her properties and business. After she signed the standard contract she brought up the topic of the clan compound Inoue-san had left her, along with the warning. Atsuka felt his lips twitch, setting traps to teach trespassers a lesson was something he could see the late Inoue-san doing. He promised to contact the mission office about her intention to reopen the compound so that they could assign a proper mission. After another handful of formalities, he watched as the overwhelmed fifteen-year old girl left.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Emotionally drained Shiori walked out of Atsuka's office, she was grateful that tomorrow was her day off and she wouldn't have to pull herself together for the public. It was barely five pm, not a time she usually went to sleep, but when she arrived in her flat she simply crawled into her bed on autopilot and slept late into the next morning, she was that tired.  
Shiori resurfaced gradually from a confusing dream about Inoue-san, her parents and her grandmother. There was terrifiying a moment when she thought herself back in the tiny room in Kawa, alone and waiting for Fuji-san to arrive before she registered the, by now, familiar walls of her flat and relaxed back into her sheets. Shiori noticed the cold sweat that made her blankets stick to her skin and sighed deeply. Unwilling to leave the security of her sheets yet she ignored the sticky feeling while she pulled them further up and curled into a ball. Shiori was already on her way to develop a headache and she wasn't even completely up yet, maybe she should just stay in bed for the rest of the day. Then her eyes drifted to where she had placed the stack of papers Atsuka-san had provided her with and any thought of being lazy evaporated.

Inoue-san had made Shiori her sole heir.

The concept was so ludicrous that she had to read through the papers once again. Shiori had hoped for a small monentary contribution, Inoue-san had always been generous, so that she could realize her dreams sooner, but all of it? When Atsuka-san had shown her the numbers the day before Shiori had felt faint. She knew that Inoue-san was well-to-do, she had helped the older woman with some of her investments but these sums? Inoue-san had been the equivalent of a millionaire in Konoha! With this inheritance, Shiori would never again have to worry about her financial situation. To realize that after she had spent more than ten years in a state of hand to mouth with weeks and sometimes even months during which her family had to live in a near constant state of hunger was… it was both relieving and frightening. Shiori felt relief because now she had the financial security she had always craved ever since waking up with Eliza's memories and frightened because what if she did something inadvisable and lost everything again?

And then the name change! Only now the sheer magnitude of Inoue-san's stipulation hit Shiori. It was now on her to acquit herself in a way worthy of Inoue-san's family name, each of her actions would be connected to the small but proud shinobi clan that had been in Konoha since it's founding nearly sixty years ago. Shiori laughed hysterically while her fingers combed nervously through her long hair. Having that kind of responsibility pushed on her was intimidating! At least there was no dilemma about taking on the Inoue-name, after all her birth family didn't have a surname, so adding another was not a problem, or at least Shiori didn't consider it to be one. She suspected that her grandmother's birth family had one, but if that was true Shizuka-oba-san had never mentioned it.


End file.
